The Life of a PI
by MadalineGrace
Summary: A collection of short stories from the 2018 reboot featuring our favorite P.I.! Mostly hurt/comfort. Some chapters may include spoilers for certain episodes and will be tagged appropriately. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Missing scene between Thomas and Higgins from 1x18.**

It was late when she got the call. Juliet had been sleeping when the phone rang and she considered letting it ring through to voicemail. However, when she saw that it was Katsumoto, she was suddenly wide awake. Given the case they'd been working on and the fact that he was out with Magnum tonight, she doubted he'd called just to chat.

"Detective?" She answered, trying not to sound as worried as she was.

"_Sorry to bother you so late Miss Higgins, but I need to ask a favor of you_."

"Of course." Juliet said, assuming it was something to with the case. "How can I help?"

"_It's about Magnum actually. He got jumped tonight by our suspect and he took a pretty nasty hit to the head._" Juliet stiffened. "_He was unconscious when I found him, but he came to pretty quick. He seemed fine and wouldn't go to the hospital. I may be overreacting, but I thought you'd want to know._"

"Thank you for telling me, Detective. I'll be sure to check in on him." She said calmly even as she frantically threw on clothes. She hastily wished him a good night and hung up, sprinting out the door and toward the guest house. As she ran, she called Magnum's cell and listened as it rang through to voicemail. The Ferrari was parked in the driveway, but the lights in the house were dark. When she reached the door, she knocked hard.

"Magnum?" Without waiting for a response, she tried the handle and was dismayed to find it unlocked. Despite her constant needling about him being careless, Magnum never left his door unlocked. She called his name again as he slipped inside. "Thomas? Are you in here?" Glancing around, she could see his muddy boots discarded on the front mat and his keys thrown haphazardly onto the counter. _He's definitely here…_

As she moved through the house, her worry began to increase. With all of the noise she'd made, he should be wide awake. The man was a notoriously light sleeper. When she reached the open doorway to his bedroom, she saw one of his ridiculous floral shirts crumpled on the floor. A bright crimson stain on the collar stood out sharply against the pale yellow fabric. Unable to contain herself any longer, she ran into the room, and found Magnum lying face down on the bed.

"Magnum?" She called again, hoping he'd wake up on his own. The last thing she wanted to do was startle him awake. For all of his laid back affect, it could sometimes be hard to remember that he was a Navy SEAL, a combat veteran with a traumatic past. When her words failed to rouse him, she continued on. Moving closer, she could see blood drying in his short hair and on the back of his neck. Cautiously, she reached out and placed a hand on his bare shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. "Magnum? Can you hear me?" Nothing… "Magnum! Wake up!" She shook him again, harder this time. Her heart was pounding. He'd gone to sleep with a head injury and now he wasn't responding. Ugly thoughts rose up in her mind, facts about skull fractures and intracranial hemorrhaging. "Thomas, wake up!" Frantically, she rolled his head to the side and peeled back his eyelid. As she did so, his head jerked back away from her and he groaned.

"Higgins? The hell?" Thomas mumbled sleepily. Juliet sagged in relief.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?!" She shouted, trying to disguise her worry with anger. Magnum gave her a confused look.

"Ummm, what?" He asked, sitting up.

"Going to sleep with a head injury! Are you daft? You could have slipped it a coma or died, and no one would've been the wiser. I certainly wouldn't have known if Katsumoto hadn't called me just now!" Thomas winced as she yelled and massaged his temple.

"That's what this is about? Higgins, I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine. Trust me, I've had enough head injuries to know-"

"I couldn't wake you." She interrupted, crossing her arms and perching on the edge of the bed. "I was shaking you and yelling your name and you wouldn't respond." Magnum had the grace to look embarrassed.

"Look, Higgy, I'm sorry I scared you. It's been a long day and I'm pretty exhausted. I guess I was just more out of it than usual. You don't have to worry about me." He assured her. Juliet didn't look convinced, but dropped the issue for the moment.

"I need to have a look at that wound." She said, changing the subject as she dug out the first aid kit she knew he kept under the bed.

"That's really not necessary. It's just a scratch." Thomas said with a yawn.

"A scratch? Magnum, your hair is fairly covered in blood. Not to mention mud. Would you prefer an infection?" She asked haughtily, even as she gently began cleaning wound.

"S'not that bad." Thomas protested tiredly. Juliet arch an eyebrow and tossed a handful of bloody gauze into his lap.

"No?" She challenged as he frowned at the pile. "Just a scratch indeed." She muttered. Thomas wisely said nothing and let her continue with her ministrations.

Five minutes later, she finished and silently gathered the soiled gauze into the trash. Thomas turned to her and offered her a small smile.

"Thank you, Juliet. I appreciate you doing this. You can go back to bed now, I'll be okay." Higgins huffed and plucked a White Knight novel off the shelf

"Go to sleep Thomas, I'll wake you in an hour." Her voice was soft, but firm. Without another word, she curled in the armchair to the right of the bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: What if Thomas hadn't been fast enough at the end of 1x06?**

There was a short, bemused second in which Thomas had time to appreciate the fact that the branch he held had in fact caught the arrow that would've killed him. That second ended abruptly as the crossbow clicked again and a fiery pain exploded in his chest. His breath caught, and he stared down in stunned fascination at the arrow lodged a few inches beneath his collar bone. His attacker seemed equally shocked and the moment stretched. Thomas gasped in a breath and felt the first wet rattle in his chest. His vision swam sickeningly, and his knees buckled. The other man seemed to come back to himself then and he raised the crossbow. As Thomas knelt there, dazed and on the verge of consciousness, one thought ran through his head. _After everything, this is how it all ends?_ He closed his eyes as the other man aimed.

"Magnum!"

* * *

Juliet knew something was wrong. She couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was, but the feeling wouldn't let her go. The thought of Thomas out there alone worried her. At first, she had scoffed at the idea. Magnum was ex-SEAL and, although it galled her to admit it, an excellent PI. He was fully capable of handling a simple door knock on his own…right? And yet, as she sat at her desk, she couldn't help but feel as though he was somehow in danger. She took a deep breath and laid her palms flat on the desktop. _He's fine. He's fine. He's fine. He's…_

"Bugger all." She muttered, grabbing her keys and running for the garage.

* * *

As her neared the house, she heard the blaring alarm of the Ferrari. She wanted to believe that he had simply forgotten the code again, wanted to believe that this was just another instance of Magnum being Magnum. That hope died as she pulled into the driveway and saw a blonde woman scrambling out of the Ferrari toward the house. Juliet threw her car into park, jumped out, and drew her gun.

"Stop right there." She commanded. The woman paused and turned slowly around. "Where's Magnum?" The woman didn't answer, but her eyes darted to the forest. A moment later, she made a break for the trees. Juliet was on her in a second, her long legs easily outpacing the woman. The struggle was brief. The woman threw kicks and punches, but they lacked any power or skill. In less than a minute, she lay unconscious in the mud. Juliet started toward the house, then paused. Off to her right, she could hear the sounds of a struggle. _Magnum…_

She broke out into a dead run into the forest. When she finally reached them, her heart clenched. Thomas knelt on the ground, eyes closed and listing to the left. Blood covered his chest and Juliet nearly gagged at the arrow that impaled him. Three feet away, a wild looking man aimed a crossbow at him. Juliet didn't stop to think.

"Magnum!" She screamed. The man with the bow turned toward her and she shot him in the chest. He flew back and hit the ground with a painful thump. He wasn't moving, and Juliet wasn't sure if he was alive or dead. At that moment, she didn't much care. She kicked the bow away and ran to Magnum, catching him as he fell.

"Magnum? Can you hear me? Thomas!" She gave his shoulder a small shake. His eyes fluttered open slowly, as if the effort was costing more energy than he had to spare.

"J-Juliet?" He rasped. He coughed weakly and blood trickled from one corned of his mouth. "What are you…why…"

"Shhhh, don't try to talk." She soothed, cradling him gently. She dug her cellphone out of her pocket and dialed 911, trying to ignore the way the blood made her finger slip across the screen. Once she was sure that help was on its way, she quickly stripped of the blouse she wore over her tank top and pressed it to the wound. Thomas whimpered softly and tried to curl in on himself. Juliet could feel tears building in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I know it hurts, Thomas, but help will be here soon. You just need to hold on a little longer, alright?" Thomas's breaths became more labored, his lips taking on a blue tint.

"Something's not…I c-can't…br-breathe…" He gasped.

"I think the arrow may have punctured your lung. Just focus taking shallow breaths and try not to talk." Juliet held him closer as he shivered in her arms. Despite her best effort, blood continued to well up through her fingers. Thomas stared blankly into the night, his eyes only half open. They stayed that way for another five minutes before he spoke.

"Didn't think…never thought it would…" He trailed off. Juliet frowned.

"Never thought what would?" When Thomas didn't answer, she moved her free hand to his cheek. "Thomas?"

"Never thought I'd die like this." He mumbled, his eyes drifting shut as his head lolled limply against her chest. Juliet could hear the sirens now.

"You're not dying here, Magnum. You hear me?" She whispered fiercely.

* * *

Hospitals were never silent, but Juliet didn't seem to notice the noise.

"Higgy?" A soft voice called. Juliet was startled out of her reverie. Rick sat in the chair next to her, eyes bright with concern. He laid a warm hand on her bare shoulder. "You alright?" Juliet glanced down at herself and noticed for the first time the blood that covered her jeans and her tank top…and the waiting room chair. She shook her head.

"This…this isn't mine." Her voice broke and a tear spilled down her cheek. TC knelt in front of her and squeezed her hand.

"Katsumoto filled us in on what happened. You did good, Jules. You saved his life by being there." He said gently. She snorted.

"We'll see about that." She muttered.

"Hey, none of that." Rick said firmly. "Tommy's a strong son of a bitch. He'll pull through. Now, let's get you cleaned up. I brought some clothes for you to change into." With that, he stood, pulled her to her feet, and walked her down the hall toward a staff only a door where a nurse was waiting. "Jules, this is Annie. She's gonna take you to the showers. We'll be waiting here when you're done."

"But, Thomas…what if-"

"We'll come get you if we hear anything." TC promised. Juliet nodded and after casting one last glance at her blood-stained chair, followed the nurse through the doorway.

* * *

Rick's head jerked up from his chest. It was fifth time in the last ten minutes that he'd had to shake himself awake. Despite the horribly uncomfortable chair, he kept nodding off. He'd already been in bed when Higgins' frantic call had woken him. By the time he'd arrived at the hospital, Thomas was already in surgery and he'd been forced to guess at his friend's condition based on Juliet's brief description and the terrifying amount of blood that covered her. During the seven hours Thomas spent in surgery, a nurse came out twice with updates, but they were always cautious and uncertain. It wasn't until the surgeon himself had informed them that Magnum was alive and in recovery that Rick finally let some of the tension bleed from his shoulders.

Now, some ten hours later, he was sagged into a chair beside Thomas' bed in the ICU, waiting for the man to wake up. Higgins was asleep in the chair opposite him, folded into an impossibly uncomfortable position. Rick ached for the coffee TC had gone to get. He'd already had a dozen cups of the terrible brew from the hospital vending machine and the promise of real, fresh coffee from his favorite café was all that was keeping him going at the moment. He knew he was exhausted, but he fought it. The idea of Thomas waking up—alone, confused, and in pain—was enough to ward off sleep. The man in question lay disturbingly still in the bed. After years of friendship, Rick knew that Magnum was nearly always moving, even in his sleep. He seemed ridiculously small and fragile surrounded by the myriad of wires and machines. _At least they'd taken him off of the ventilator_, Rick thought. He knew how much Thomas hated them. The oxygen mask was uncomfortable, but it wouldn't trigger panic like the vent would.

Rick was startled from his thoughts by a soft moan. Instantly awake and alert, he grabbed Thomas' too-cold hand a gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Tommy? Can you hear me?" Rick asked softly. Across from him, Juliet was awake and leaning over the bed, concern shining in her brown eyes. Magnum's brow furrowed, and his head rolled from side to side. "Easy buddy, it's okay, you're safe." He soothed as Magnum began to pant. "Can you open your eyes for me?" It took a minute, but Thomas finally managed to pry his lids open part way. Rick smiled warmly used his free hand to smooth back Magnum's hair. "There you are. You gotta stop scaring me, man. I'm getting too old for this!" He joked. Thomas blinked slowly a few times, still trying to focus on his friend.

"S'rry." He slurred from beneath the mask. Clumsily, he raised a hand and tried to pull it off.

"Leave that on." Juliet admonished gently as she replaced the mask. "You still need it."

"Juliet?" He asked, confusion evident in his tone. "What 'appened? You 'kay?"

"I'm fine, Thomas. You're the one we've all been worried about. What do you remember?" Thomas thought for a moment, then frowned.

"Don't know…kinda jumbled…"

"We were working on a case for Henry Barr, trying to locate Elizabeth Cole." Juliet prompted. He nodded slowly.

"Went out to talk to hunter…I get in an accident?"

"No, buddy. That hunter took a shot at you with a crossbow." Rick explained. "Got you in the chest." Thomas glanced down, as if noticing the bandages for the first time.

"Elizabeth?" He asked.

"Dead." Juliet answered sadly. "Katsumoto found enough evidence in the cabin to figure it out. It turns out Barr's assistant killed Elizabeth to keep her out of Barr's life. He buried her out in the woods. A few decades later, our hunter finds her body, pieces a few things together, and figures he can blackmail Barr."

"Thought Barr did it…thought he…" Thomas trailed off, his eyes starting to close. Rick squeezed his hand.

"Why don't you get some rest, TM. We'll be here when you wake up, okay?"

"Kay." Thomas mumbled as he drifted off once more. A few seconds later, TC walked in, bringing with him the scent of fresh brewed coffee. He cocked his head at the sight of Rick and Higgins leaning over Magnum's bed.

"What I miss?"

* * *

As TC's large van rumbled into the drive at Robin's Nest, Magnum breathed out a contented sigh and closed him eyes. After more than a week away, he was excited to finally be coming back. A hand on his knee roused him and he turned to see Rick reach back from the front seat.

"You doing okay, brother?"

"Yeah." Thomas replied with a small smile. "Just good to be home is all." He paused and glanced out the window. "We going to the main house?"

"Higgy made up a guest room." TC explained. "I think she wants to keep an eye on you." Thomas nodded, but said nothing. As much as he preferred to lick his wounds in private, it hadn't escaped his attention how much Higgins had been hovering. Although she hid it under layers of sarcasm and playful jabs, he could tell that she was worried. He could only imagine what it must have been like and he felt bad for scaring her.

After TC parked the van as close as possible to the front entrance, both he and Rick came around to help Thomas out of the car. Once they'd extricated him from his seat belt, they each took an arm and gently lifted him. As they moved him to the ground, Thomas let out a gasp of pain and his knees threatened to buckle.

"Easy, man. Just lean on us. Let us do the work." TC said softly. A few minutes later, Thomas nodded and did his best to shrug out of their hold.

"I'm good." He said gruffly. Rick snorted. In truth, Thomas was far too pale and looked ready to collapse.

"Sure you are, buddy. C'mon, let's get you inside." He kept a supportive hand around his friend as they walked slowly to the house, TC following closely behind with the bags. When they reached the front step, the door opened before Rick could knock and Juliet beckoned them inside.

"Hello, Magnum. How are you feeling? The truth, please." She asked, with a knowing look. Thomas looked sheepishly at floor. Clearly, he didn't look as fine as he'd hoped.

"I'm a little tired." He said quietly. Juliet smiled and took his arm.

"I expected as much. Come, your room is just down the hall." Together, the four of them made their way to one of the spacious guest bedrooms. By the time they arrived, Thomas was exhausted. His legs shook, and his still-healing lung wheezed with every breath. He all but collapsed onto the mattress. For a few minutes, he lay quietly as his friends fussed around him, pulling off his shoes and turning back covers. He was only dimly aware of the conversation going on around him.

"He needs to take these." Rick said.

"I'll take care of it." Juliet offered. "There's coffee and malasadas in the kitchen if you lads are interested."

"Get some rest, buddy. We'll be back in a bit." Rick said, giving his leg a light squeeze before following TC out. Juliet sat on the edge of the bed and held up a glass of water and a small orange bottle.

"For your pain." She explained as she shook a couple into her palm. With surprising gentleness, she lifted his head enough for him to swallow the pills.

"Thanks, Higgy." Thomas mumbled sleepily. "You didn't have to do all this."

"Yes, I did." She said softly, but didn't elaborate. She glanced away for a moment before continuing. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"When I found you in the woods…you were hurt pretty badly and you said something. You said, 'I never thought I'd die like this.' What did you mean by that?" She asked hesitantly. Thomas was a moment in answering.

"I guess, after everything, the SEALs, the camp…it seemed crazy to me that I was going to die alone in the woods, shot by some boar hunter."

"You didn't have to be. Alone, I mean. I know that I complain, but I want you to know that, if you'd asked…I would have gone with you. And," she added quietly, "should you need me in the future, I'll be there." Thomas stared at her, stunned. Before he could reply, Juliet gave his shoulder a light squeeze and slipped out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary: Tag to 1x07. The missing scene after the car accident.**

As Magnum sprinted after the suspect, he couldn't help but marvel at the man's impressive agility. He vaulted the fence easily and used the momentum of his jump propel him forward. While Magnum was far from clumsy, his own jump lacked any sort of grace. _Still_, he mused_, it got the job done_. For all the man's speed, Magnum was still gaining on him. Even as he ran, he couldn't help the small smirk that played across his lips as they neared the street. _Gotcha…_

The pain hit him out of nowhere. One moment he was reaching out to snag the back of the man's shirt and the next he was rolling off the hood of a car and landing roughly on the pavement.

"Magnum!" He heard Higgins call from a million miles away.

* * *

Breaking from the alley and into the street, Juliet arrived just in time to see the car collide with Thomas, throwing him roughly to the ground.

"Magnum!" She cried, running toward the fallen man. He lay curled on the pavement, arms wrapped around his midsection as he gasped in a ragged breath. Relieved to see that he was at least alive, she spared a quick glance at the driver before crouching down again. Magnum's eyes were closed, his wheezing breaths shallow and rapid. She didn't think he was unconscious, but it was clear that he wasn't fully conscious either. A few feet away, she could hear the hysterical driver on the phone with 911.

"Magnum?" She asked, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Can you hear me?" He groaned softly, trying to arch his back against the pain. Juliet quickly moved her hands to his neck and back. "No, don't try to move. You've been in an accident and you may have injured your spine. You need to stay very still." He didn't respond, but he stilled under her touch, so she took it to mean that he was listening. However, with his eyes still closed, it was hard to tell how aware he was. Gently, she began running her hands over his body, searching for injuries. When her fingers pressed into a spot in the middle of his back, he cried out and tried to jerk away from her. Once again, she braced her hands around his spine.

"Thomas, don't move. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes." Magnum stuttered as he fought to control his breathing. Juliet sighed a bit in relief. At least now he was answering.

"Good. Can you tell me where you're hurt?"

"Ribs." He gasped as Juliet's fingers ghosted over the same spot. She frowned when she felt movement under her touch.

"How is your breathing?"

"H-hurts…but lung f-feels okay." His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Let me know if that changes. Now stay still, I'm going to take a look." As gently as she could, she rucked up his shirt and winced when she saw the bruising already forming. "I think you've broken a few ribs.

"Guessed…as much."

"Does anything else hurt?" Thomas took a moment before answering.

"I don't know." He mumbled, sounding somewhat confused. "Head maybe?" Juliet leaned in closer so she could see his face. His eyes were open now and they seemed to the be tracking her well enough. The pupils appeared equal. Still, she ran her hand through his hair, finding a large knot on the back. Satisfied, she straightened a bit. She could hear the sirens nearby.

"The ambulance is almost here. I don't think you've done any serious damage, but we'll let the paramedics decide."

"Don't think…ambulance…is necessary." Magnum protested weakly. Higgins rolled her eyes.

"You were just hit by a car, Magnum. You can barely string a sentence together. An ambulance is absolutely necessary, if only to keep your brains from leaking all over the tarmac." Despite everything, Thomas chuckled softly.

"Aww Higgy…knew you cared."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary: Tag to 1x19. My version of how the episode should've ended.**

"Ahoy, mateys! You need a lift, do ya?" Rick's jubilant voice boomed over the speaker. Thomas sagged against the sinking boat as the adrenaline fled his system.

"About time!" He called back hoarsely, pulling a shivering Higgins close. All day, his only goal had been to keep her alive and now that that weight had been lifted from his shoulders, he felt lightheaded with relief. He was absolutely exhausted, and the fight had left him in more pain than he was willing to admit.

"Hang tight, we'll bring her in close." TC promised, steering carefully through the surrounding rocks.

"N-not like w-we're going to g-go anywhere." Higgins muttered. Frowning, Thomas sat next to her, wincing as a sharp pain tore through his side.

"You doing okay?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her, trying to give her what warmth he had to offer. She nodded jerkily.

"T-to paraphrase you, give me a b-bottle of Rosé and a paddle and I'll be f-fine." She flashed him grin. Small though it was, it seemed to light up the day. Thomas snorted softly.

"Tell you what. We get back and I'll find you the most expensive bottle on the island, my treat."

"I'll hold you to that." She murmured tiredly, laying her head on Magnum's chest. They sat there, in exhausted, companionable silence until the _T.R. Belle_ arrived.

As TC maneuvered in next to the sinking remains of the _Naginata_, he let out a low whistle.

"Can't leave you two alone for five minutes!" He scolded affectionately.

"Think you can make it up the ladder, Higgy?" Rick asked, already leaning down to help.

"Well, I just s-saved his arse for the thousandth time," she said, ticking her head towards Magnum, "so a ladder shouldn't b-be a problem." Rick laughed.

"That's our girl!" Still, he remained close, ready to help should she need it. Despite Juliet's confident assurance, Thomas stood beneath her as she began to climb, one hand resting gently on her back, ready to catch her if she fell. Thankfully, she reached the top without incident and was quickly enveloped in a thick blanket by TC.

"Your turn, buddy. That's a nice shiner you've got there." Rick remarked.

"Should see the other guy." Thomas said tiredly, his usual bravado gone. As he reached his arm up to grab the first rung, the pain in his side flared again and he nearly doubled over. He had to brace himself against the side of the boat for a moment just to stay upright.

"Whoa, you okay man?" Rick's tone was suddenly worried, and he looked ready to jump down the into the smaller boat.

"I'm good." Thomas gasped. "Just sore is all. Swimming across the Molokai Channel will do that to you." Carefully, he pulled himself up the ladder, trying his best to ignore the gnawing pain in his gut. As he neared the top, Rick clasped his hands on Thomas' arms and helped pull him the rest of the way up. Once Thomas was safely on the deck, he gave him a shrewd once over before heading over to join TC and Higgins.

"Alright Higgy," Rick said jovially, rubbing his hands together, "let's take a look at that arm."

With practiced ease and surprising gentleness, Rick carefully cleaned and dressed the wound. Throughout the process, Thomas looked on from where he leaned against the railing. Now that he was here and safe, he felt oddly disconnected from the world. Although he was on the boat with them, he felt somehow separate, as though he was watching a movie.

"Well, Jules, looks like you're gonna make it." Rick said, securing the bandage in place as TC handed her a bottle of water.

"S'good…" Magnum mumbled, then promptly collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. Three heads whipped around to see him sprawled limply on the deck.

"Thomas!" Rick was up in an instant, running over to kneel at his friend's side.

"What's wrong with him?" TC asked worriedly as he joined Rick. Rick just shook his head and took Thomas' face in his hands.

"Tommy? Can you hear me?" He lightly tapped the man's cheeks, but Magnum didn't so much as twitch. "Help me roll him onto his back." He said to TC. Together, they slowly maneuvered him to lay face up. TC gasped when he was Magnum's abdomen.

"The hell is that?" An enormous dark bruise extended from the navel across his right side and up to his ribs.

"Shit…" Rick muttered, gently probing it with his fingers. His frown deepened when he felt the telltale rigidity. "I think he's bleeding internally." As he pressed against the bruise again, Thomas groaned feebly and tried to curl in on himself. "Easy, buddy. Try to stay still." Rick soothed. Thomas' only reply was a soft whimper. Rick turned to TC. "We've gotta get him to a hospital." Without another word, the big man ran for the controls. With as much care as possible, Rick pulled Magnum over to lie on the couch next to Higgins.

"How is he?" She asked nervously. She had watched everything unfold in shocked silence. _Hadn't he been fine just minutes ago?_

"Not good." Rick said as he checked his pulse. The weak, rapid beat and the cool, clammy skin all confirmed that he was going into shock. "He's freezing." Juliet instantly shucked one of her blankets and held it out.

"Here, this should help with that." Rick nodded a brief thanks and tucked the blanket over Thomas.

"Any idea how this happened?" He asked.

"He was fine earlier. It had to have just happened there on the _Naginata_. He'd already taken a few bad hits by the time I got there." Without thinking, she began gently smoothing his damp fair back from his forehead. Suddenly, Magnum's brow furrowed, and he reached clumsily for his injured side. Rick intercepted him and took the errant hand in his own.

"Thomas? I need you to open your eyes for me, okay?" Rick urged. "That's it, come on." Slowly, Thomas' lids fluttered open. He stared dazedly up at Juliet for a moment.

"Higgins?" His voice was barely more than whisper. "You…'kay?" Higgins felt tears burn in her eyes. Later she'd blame it on exhaustion and blood loss.

"I'm fine, Magnum. You kept me safe."

"Crying…s'wrong?" He slurred.

"I think you're scaring her, buddy." Rick said, giving Magnum's hand a gentle squeeze. "Why didn't you tell us you were hurt?"

"Didn't think…this bad." He mumbled breathlessly. "Thought…s'fine."

"Yeah, well later you and I are gonna have a long talk about your definition of 'fine.' For now, though, let's just focus on getting you home."

"Thirty minutes guys." TC called from the console. "I've got EMS standing by." Thomas nodded, then groaned, his face contorting in pain. His head thrashed from side to side as he gasped in a ragged breath.

"Thomas? What's wrong?" Higgins asked, concerned by this sudden change.

"Hurtsssss." He bit out.

"Just ride it out, man." Rick tried to hide his frustration at his utter uselessness in the situation. It was like the camp all over again. Thomas in pain and bleeding out with nothing he could do.

Thomas' chest suddenly convulsed, sending him into a painful coughing fit. Blood gurgled up from his throat and ran down his chin. Rick quickly lifted him and turned his head to the side to keep him from choking.

"Oh God…" Juliet whispered. Thomas was struggling for each breath now. Rick placed an ear on his chest and listened intently.

"The bleeding's putting pressure on his lung. It's collapsing, maybe even punctured…TC!"

"Going as fast as I can!" TC called. The _Belle_ was already cruising at her top speed, but Juliet willed it to go faster.

"Stand up eight, Magnum." She whispered fiercely. "Fall seven times, stand up eight. You owe me eight."

* * *

Rick paced the hospital waiting room like a caged animal. He'd tried sitting for the first hour, but the nervous energy had gotten the better of him. The image of Thomas choking on his own blood as they loaded him into the ambulance seemed to be burned onto his retinas.

"Sit down, Orville. You're gonna wear holes in the floor." TC said softly.

"It's been two hours, T. How come we haven't been updated yet? Something's wrong."

"We don't know that. No news is good news, okay? It means they're still working on him."

"But what if…" Rick trailed off as Higgins walked in. She was pale, dressed in clothes obviously from the gift shop, and her arm was in a sling, but she seemed steady on her feet.

"Any news yet?" She asked, sounding both hopeful and afraid as she sat next to TC. Rick shook his head.

"Nothing yet. What about you? The doctors actually discharged you?" He asked with a note of disbelief, taking the seat opposite of Higgins.

"Yes. Unlike Magnum, I know when to take the advice of trained medical professionals. They redressed the wound, pumped me full of fluids and antibiotics, wrote me a couple of scripts, and sent me on my way."

"Glad you're okay, Higgy." TC said sincerely, giving her a gentle on armed hug. Rick was about to second that when a young woman in scrubs and a surgical cap entered the room.

"Family of Thomas Magnum?" She called. The three of them were up in an instant, closing in on her.

"We're his family." TC said firmly. She appraised the small group for a moment, then nodded.

"I'm Dr. Iona. I'm the resident assigned to his case."

"How is he?" Juliet asked tentatively.

"Mr. Magnum has a lacerated liver and a punctured lung. We've just taken him into surgery."

"Just now? He's been here for hours already!" Rick questioned indignantly.

"By the time he arrived, he'd lost a lot of blood and was extremely unstable. Surgery was too risky at that point. We had to give a blood transfusion in order to bring his vitals back to an acceptable level. I promise you, we're doing everything we can for him."

"What are his chances looking like, Doc?" TC asked. Iona took a deep breath.

"I won't lie to you, he's critical. The damage is extensive and the delay in getting treatment adds more risk to the surgery. That said, he's young, he's healthy, and he's fighting very hard right now." She made eye contact with each of them before continuing. "I'll come back out with updates when I can. I suggest you all get comfortable because you'll be here for a while."

* * *

The rhythmic hiss and beep of Magnum's machines were slowly lulling Higgins to sleep. For the last ten hours since Thomas had come out of surgery, she'd only caught snatches of sleep here and there. Mostly, it was Rick's anxious pacing that kept her awake. Not that she was upset, God knew she wasn't exactly that most patient person. However, now that Rick and TC had left the room to fill in Katsumoto, Juliet could feel the combination of exhaustion and pain medication pulling her under. Still, even as she drifted off, she held fast to Magnum's cold hand.

* * *

Higgins was jolted awake by the frantic, shrill beeping of the heart monitor. On the bed, Thomas was thrashing against the blankets, eyes wide and glazed with panic. His hands grabbed clumsily for the ventilator. The sight banished all traces of exhaustion from her in a second. With her one good arm, she gently pulled his hands away. Weak as he was, it didn't take much.

"Magnum? Look at me. You're okay. You're in the hospital." His eyes locked on hers and she could see the sheer terror in them as he tried to reach toward the tube again. Again, she pulled him back.

"Listen to me, Thomas. You're on a ventilator. You need it to help you breathe. I know it feels like you're suffocating right now, but I promise you're not." As she spoke, she could see the panic begin to slowly recede. It broke her heart to see him so lost and afraid and she ached for a way to help him. Thomas began to grunt softly, as though he were trying to say something.

"Shhh, don't try to talk. Everything's okay. You're safe." Thomas' lids had begun to flutter closed, but she could tell he was fighting it.

"It's alright Thomas, go back to sleep. We'll be here when you wake up." She promised. Even so, Magnum seemed intent on something. He tried, unsuccessfully, to talk again, then reached out one hand to tug weakly on her sling. Thinking he was trying get her attention, Juliet leaned closer.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He tugged again on her sling, glancing between her arm and her face repeatedly. "My arm? You want to know about me?" He nodded once. Juliet rolled her eyes and leaned back.

"You're in the ICU and you're worried about me? Unbelievable…Thomas, I'm fine. I promise you, I'm okay." That seemed to be all that he'd needed to hear because seconds later he was asleep once more.

* * *

The next time Thomas woke was far less dramatic. As he'd improved, he'd been transferred to a private room and exchanged the ventilator for an oxygen mask, then later a far more comfortable nasal cannula. He rose to consciousness slowly, comforted by the warm sun that filtered through the half-drawn shades. When he finally opened his eyes, he was greeted by a sight he'd never forget. On a small couch to his left, Juliet Higgins slept curled against the improbably large figure of TC. Her head lay on his chest and his arm wrapped around her shoulder. TC was snoring softly, his own head tipped against Juliet's soft blonde curls. Despite the cramped space, they both look peaceful. Unwilling to wake them just yet, Thomas slowly rolled his head to the right. Rick was sitting in horribly uncomfortable chair, staring out the window. Thomas tried to say something, but only a weak sound no louder than a whisper escaped him. Still, it was enough to rouse Rick from his thoughts. He turned sharply, and his face split into a wide grin. He reached for a small cup on the nearby tray.

"Hey, buddy! Hold on, don't try to talk yet." He said quietly. A moment later, he held straw to Thomas' lips and help him drink. "Slow sips now. Not too much." He coached. Thomas savored the cool, refreshing water.

"Thanks." He rasped. Rick set the cup aside, the leaned in, grabbing Thomas' hand as he did so.

"How're you feeling? In any pain?"

"No…feel drugged. Good kind of drugged." Thomas paused for a moment, taking in the various wires and machines. "What happened?" Rick frowned.

"You don't remember?"

"I remember you and TC coming to get us, but not much after that." Rick sighed.

"You collapsed once we got you guys on board. Turns out you were hurt worse than you thought from that fight you got into with the boatjackers. You were bleeding internally and we almost didn't make it back to shore in time."

"Another one of my nine lives gone. How many is that now?" Magnum joked weakly, but Rick shook his head.

"Don't. This isn't funny. We were so close to losing you this time." The raw emotion in Rick's voice had Thomas' next flippant comment dying on his tongue.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize." He said contritely. Rick squeezed Thomas' knee gently and gave him a small smile.

"You never do, Tommy. You never do."

"So what's the damage this time?"

"Well, you had a lacerated liver and punctured lung. Docs fixed you up, but you're gonna be down for a while."

"We'll see about that." Thomas replied, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

* * *

As it turned out, Rick was right about Thomas' recovery time. He spent nearly two weeks in the hospital before the doctors deemed him well enough to return home. Even then, he was told he'd be mostly on bed rest. Although Thomas' spirit resisted, his body disagreed. He was plagued by constant pain, fatigue, and shortness of breath. He'd spent most the first four days out of the hospital sleeping in a guest room in the main house. When he was awake, he lay in a medicated fog and waited passively as Higgins changed his bandages.

Now, three weeks after the incident, Thomas was finally starting to feel like himself again. The pain and fatigue were still there, but they no longer weighed down on him oppressively. He'd been given permission to take short walks and, even better, he felt up to taking them. As he shuffled into the kitchen late one morning, he found Higgins waiting for him. Her own wound had healed quickly and he envied her. Grabbing a bottle of water, Thomas sat at the counter and downed his morning pills.

"Feel up to a stroll?" Higgins asked casually. Thomas considered for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah. Where'd you have in mind?"

"I thought I'd take Zeus and Apollo down to the beach, let them run off some energy. And you need the sunshine. It'll do you good. You've been shut up inside for three weeks and you're beginning to look downright ghastly." She teased affectionately.

"You're all heart, Higgy." She laughed, slid over his well-worn flip flops, and helped him down from the chair.

* * *

They walked slowly, arm in arm across the lawn, Thomas leaning on Higgins. Zeus and Apollo trotted obediently beside them. He had to admit, she was right about the sun. For the last few weeks, he hadn't been able to feel properly warm, despite the sweatshirts and the blankets. Now, he relished the feeling of the sun's rays soaking into his skin and warming him inside and out.

By the time they reached the beach, Thomas was a bit out of breath and his legs had begun to shake. His right lung wheezed with the effort. He hated feeling so weak and it usually put him in a foul mood. Higgins took it all in stride. She had evidently thought ahead and had placed a pair of beach chairs on the sand.

"There we go." She murmured softly as she eased him down into one of them. "Just relax for a moment." As he sat there, he marveled at how this woman could be so incredibly fierce and deadly, and yet also kind and gentle. They sat together in comfortable silence, watching the dogs run through the surf.

"Thank you." Thomas said after a while.

"You're welcome. It's good see you up and about again."

"It's good to be up and about again." He agreed. Then paused, before continuing. "You're right, you know." Higgins arched an eyebrow.

"Thomas Magnum admitting that I'm right? Surely that's a sign of the apocalypse. And what is that you think I'm right about?" Thomas was silent for a minute.

"A lot of things, actually. You were right about the sun. I feel better now than I have in weeks…but it's more than that. You were right about falling down seven times, standing up eight."

"In what way?" Higgins asked, her tone no longer joking.

"My whole life, I've been getting knocked down. Hell, my dad died when I was six. I started down. I've always gotten back up. Every time, it was just a given that no matter what they did to me, I could come back from it. As long as I was still alive, I could get back up." He paused for a moment, staring at the waves. "Back on that atoll, I thought you were dying. You weren't breathing and there wasn't much I could do about it. The way I saw it, you'd stood up your seven times, and been knocked down seven. The only way was for you to give it one last try. To stand up eight." Juliet was a moment in replying.

"On the way back to shore, after you'd been hurt, I also asked you to stand up eight. You were barely conscious at that point and I didn't know if you could hear me, but…" She trailed off.

"Let's make a deal. No matter what, I promise you I'll always stand up eight if you'll promise the same." Thomas said with a grin, turning to Higgins and sticking out his hand. She smiled and shook it.

"Deal. And just so you know, I haven't forgotten about our other deal."

"What other deal?"

"Well I do believe you promised me the most expensive bottle of Rosé on the island."

"You're seriously gonna hold me to that?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary: A case hits Magnum too close to home. Literally.**

Juliet Higgins awoke to the sound of a dog barking. There was no mistaking the sound – it was definitely Zeus or Apollo. Higgins groaned and rolled back over in bed, pulling the pillow over her head as she did so.

"Five more minutes, lads. Just five more minutes." She muttered. She was bone tired from helping Magnum with a case and waking up before the sun had even fully risen was not helping matters. He'd been hired to prove a man, Jason Kekoa's, innocence in a recent murder. Magnum had been instantly convinced that Kekoa was being framed and had cajoled Higgins into helping. Last night, they'd managed to get some information out of a reluctant witness that had broken the case wide open. They had plans to head to the North Shore later in the day to recover the missing evidence that would clear Kekoa's name, but that was hours away. Both she and Magnum were exhausted, and she'd made it clear that she would be in bed until at least ten in the morning.

It was odd that the dogs were out and about this early. They typically slept at the end of her bed and wouldn't leave the room until she did. As the barking grew louder, Higgins resigned herself to the fact that she would not, in fact, be sleeping in this morning. Moments later, Zeus came bounding into the room and jumped onto the bed. He was still barking as he planted his feet on her chest and began nudging the pillow off of her face.

"Alright, alright…I'm awake." She said irritably. As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she frowned. Zeus was a calm, well-trained dog who knew better than to behave like this. Now, he was nearly frantic as he jumped off and on the bed. When she'd finally freed herself from the blankets, Zeus began gently nipping at her pant leg, pulling her toward the door. That's when she noticed the blood on his nose. She was suddenly struck with the realization that she had yet to see or hear from Apollo. Her blood ran cold as she slid into a pair of sandals.

"Zeus, find Apollo." She commanded. Zeus barked once sharply and took off toward the door. Juliet followed at a dead run. _What the hell could have happened to Apollo here?_ It was a gated estate with excellent security and the lads weren't exactly helpless.

She followed Zeus out the front door and was surprised as he headed for the guest house. Surely if Apollo had been hurt over there, Magnum would have noticed and given her a call. As they neared the house, a different fear began to grow. The front door stood ajar, something Magnum would never have done. For all of his laid back affect, the man could be downright paranoid when it came to security and she knew that he tripled checked all of the locks before he went to sleep. Reaching the front step, Higgins felt her breath catch in her chest at the sight of blood on the door. Suddenly wishing she'd brought her gun, Higgins grabbed a large rock from the flower bed and stepped inside.

The house was a mess. Furniture was overturned and broken into pieces. Pictures were smashed, and glass littered the floor. Magnum's gun lay discarded in the entrance. There was blood everywhere – in pools, smears, sprayed across the walls – and in the center of the chaos was Magnum. Higgins froze in horror. He was sprawled in a lake of red, his skin deathly pale. Blood ran from wounds in his chest and abdomen, and from slashes on his arms. Apollo lay by his head, licking Magnum's cheeks and nudging him with his nose, whimpering softly as he did so. Dropping the rock, she slid to her knees at his side.

"Magnum?!" She screamed. Her fingers flew to his neck and she waited through twenty agonizing seconds before she felt the faint flutter of a heartbeat. Weak and uncertain, but still there. Higgins nearly sobbed in relief. She fumbled in her pockets for a moment before puling out her phone, suddenly glad that she'd had the foresight to grab it. She quickly dialed 911, then put the call on speaker while she grabbed a basket of washcloths that had fallen from the kitchen counter. As she pressed the cloths into the worst of the wounds, she relayed the situation to the operator in a few terse sentences. Within moments, she had been assured that help was on its way. Ignoring the request to stay on the line, she hung up and thumbed over the security app on her phone that allowed to her remotely unlock the front gate. Magnum needed help immediately and she didn't think he could afford to wait while HPD broke through the reinforced gate. With that done, she gathered Magnum gently in her arms, using her entire forearm to hold pressure on the wounds.

"Thomas?" Her voice trembled. "You're going to be okay, do you hear me? You'll be fine. Just stay with me." Higgins could hear the sirens in the distance and she'd prayed they'd make it time. Every breath that wheezed past Thomas' bloodless lips seemed weaker than the one before. Tears broke from her eyes and splashed down onto his bare chest.

"Come on, Thomas." She whispered fiercely, burying her face in his dark hair. "You can do this. Please…"

Minutes went by and Higgins was startled by the sudden arrival of HPD. She was even more surprised to see Katsumoto leading the way into the house, gun raised and eyes hard. His gaze softened as he caught sight of the two of them on the floor.

"Jesus…" He muttered, holstering his gun as the rest of the officers continued to clear the house, then kneeling next to them. "I was in the area when the call went out. EMS is four minutes behind. What the hell happened?" Juliet shook her head.

"I don't know. Zeus came and got me this morning, barking like mad. He led me here and I found him…" She broke off, unable to finish the sentence. Katsumoto put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "The security system didn't pick up whoever did this."

"I've got guys searching the property now and CSU will be here soon. We'll figure this out." Without prompting, the took an unused cloth and pressed it to one of the wounds Higgins hadn't been able to get. "How's he doing?"

"Not good. I don't think-" Higgins broke off when Thomas groaned softly. "Thomas? Thomas, can you hear me?" She could see his mouth working, his eyes trying to open as he tossed his head back and forth.

"Hang in there, Magnum. Help's on its way." Katsumoto assured him. Thomas' eyes had opened a fraction and it was clear he way trying to speak. Upon seeing Katsumoto, Thomas reached a hand out and grasped weakly at the detective. Katsumoto frowned. "Magnum? What is it? What's wrong?" Thomas tried, but he couldn't form the words. Blood bubbled from his lips and ran in lines down his chin.

"Shhhhh, don't try to talk." Higgins soothed, trying to conceal her panic. Magnum didn't seem to hear her and his grip on Katsumoto's jacket tightened. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he tried again to speak, but all he could manage were a few incoherent sounds, wet and wrong.

"Just relax, Magnum. We'll find who did this to you." He promised. What little strength Thomas had seemed to fade then, and he went limp in Higgins' arms.

* * *

The water from the faucet was nearly boiling, but Juliet didn't seem to notice as she scrubbed viciously at her hands. No matter how much soap she used, she could still see the bright crimson of Magnum's blood staining her hands. Her mind seemed stuck on an endless loop, replaying the moment in the ambulance when his heart had stopped, the way his body jerked as the electricity from the defibrillator coursed through him, the unnatural rise and fall of his chest as the ambu-bag forced oxygen into his lungs.

"That's enough, Honey." Said a soft voice behind her. Juliet turned and saw a middle aged nurse standing a few feet away, holding a bundle of clothes.

"What?" She asked dumbly. The nurse gave her a small, understanding smile.

"It's gone. You got the blood off. Now you're just rubbing your hands raw." Higgins looked down at her hands again, surprised to see how they practically glowed with irritation.

"I…I didn't realize…" The nurse reached over and turned the water off.

"Shock's a powerful thing, dear. Messes with your head."

"I'm not…I don't think I'm…" Juliet rambled. The nurse took her by the elbow and led to her to one of the nearby showers.

"Of course not." She tutted, clearly not believing her. "Now, let's get you cleaned up."

* * *

Higgins stared her phone as if it might bite her. She knew she had to call them, but thought of telling Thomas' two best friends that he was dying was almost more than she could take. She'd been tempted by the nurse's offer to do it for her, but Juliet knew she owed those men more. Taking a deep breath, she pressed call.

"_Hey, Higgy!_" Rick answered cheerfully._ "TC and I were wondering when you guys would call. We had bets on how long it would take before Thomas needed our help." _Higgins felt her throat tighten. Could she really do this? Destroy their worlds in an instant? These men had been through so much already and losing Thomas would crush them. She must've paused too long, because when Rick came back on the line, his voice was tinged with concern. _"Jules? Everything alright?"_

"It's…" She began uncertainly. "It's Magnum. He's-" A sob broke in her chest and she cursed herself for not being able to finish.

_"__Is he alive?"_ Rick's voice was quiet, terrified.

"I th-think so." She hiccupped. "He's in surgery now."

"_We'll be there in ten"_

* * *

Thomas rose slowly from the depths of unconsciousness. Sensations returned to him one by one. The rhythmic hiss and beep of machines, the smell of antiseptic, a pinch on the crook of his elbow. Slowly, his brain managed to come up with the word _hospital_. He could feel the haze of drugs weighing on him heavily and he was tempted to let it pull him under again when he heard voices nearby.

"How is he?"

"It's bad. Six stab wounds, half a dozen slashes, concussion, broken ribs, punctured lung. It was the blood loss that almost got him though."

"Pressure bottomed out in the ambulance. They got him back, but it was close. You guys anywhere yet?"

"CSU is still processing, but so far no DNA or prints. Place was a mess. Magnum put up one hell of a fight."

"Damn right he did."

"Any idea how they got in? I thought Robin's Nest had a top of the line security system."

"CSU found evidence of hacking. Some sort of device in the front gate sensors gave them access to the network."

"So they could've just hopped the fence?"

"Probably did. I've got guys going through the traffic cams nearby to see if they find anything suspicious, but it's a busy intersection so we may not get anything."

As Thomas listened, memories came back to him in pieces. Images slammed into him, one after another. _A fight, a knife, blood, a man, black mask, ripping the mask off… _His mind hit a wall going a thousand miles an hour. _That face_. He knew that face. He'd seen it somewhere, he just couldn't place it.

A soft sound to Thomas' left brought him back to the present and he struggled for a moment to open his eyes. When his lids finally parted, he saw a man in pale blue scrubs and white jacket filling a syringe. Dazedly, Magnum's eyes found the man's face. He stiffened. _That face…_

Adrenaline shot through his system as he recognized the man. He tried to call out, but he gagged on something hard in his throat. Thomas began struggling, trying desperately to move away from the man. All the while, his throat worked, trying to vocalize his terror.

"What the hell?" Rick's voice cut through the fear as he rushed into the room, followed closely by TC, Higgins, and Katsumoto. "What's happening?"

"He woke up and started struggling against the ventilator." The man answered, quickly capping the syringe and stuffing it into his pocket. "I'll go get Dr. Harmon." With that, he ran out of the room.

"Easy, Tommy." TC soothed, sitting in the edge of the bed and smoothing back Thomas' hair. "You're in the hospital. Everything's gonna be okay." Thomas barely heard him as he tried to speak over whatever was in his throat and _oh God just get it out…_

"No no no no no, leave that alone, buddy." Rick cautioned as he pulled Thomas' hands back to his side. "You're on a ventilator. You need that to help you breathe, okay? The tube needs to stay in for a little while." Desperate to be understood, Thomas reached out with a flailing hand and latched onto Katsumoto's sleeve with surprising strength. His words came out as no more than meaningless grunts.

"Easy…easy. Just relax." Katsumoto leaned in closer. Just as with back in the house, Magnum seemed consumed by the need to communicate with him. He gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "You're safe here, Magnum. I've got HPD posted all over this floor. No one's going to get to you here." He promised. If anything, that seemed to agitate him more. By the time Dr. Harmon arrived, Rick and TC had been forced to hold Thomas down to prevent him from injuring himself further.

"Here we go, Mr. Magnum." Harmon said as he injected the contents on a syringe into the IV. "This will make you feel better." Turning to the others, he said, "This should put him out for a while."

"What was that?" Higgins asked.

"Your friend has just been through a traumatic experience. He's confused and in pain and waking up on a ventilator is not the most pleasant experience. This type of reaction is normal. Right now, we just need to keep him calm and give his body a chance to heal." As Harmon spoke, Thomas could feel the drugs dragging him back under.

"Don't fight it, Magnum." Higgins said softly, carding her finger gently through his hair as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was pain that brought Magnum back to consciousness. It was small, just a twinge in his arm. The drugs from earlier were still in his system, weighing down on him oppressively. It took him longer than it should've to realize that the pain had come from something pulling on his IV. He rolled his eyes languidly over just in time to see the man from before plunge a syringe into his line. They locked eyes as the man depressed the plunger and, in that moment, Thomas knew that he was dead. He closed his eyes and never heard the shouts as he fell back into the welcoming darkness.

"Police! On your knees, do it now!"

* * *

Voices swirled around him like smoke; there, but to illusive to grab. Thomas let them wash over him as he lay there and tried to grasp their meaning.

"That was too close. We almost lost him this time." A deep voice rumbled.

"Did lose him." Another voice corrected. "Three times, actually. We let him die three times."

"You mustn't talk like that." A woman said quietly. "There's no way we could've known."

"Magnum knew. He kept trying to tell me. That's why he panicked when he woke up the first time. He must've recognized him." A third man said bitterly.

"We figure out who he is?"

"His name's Evan Tran. He was Alan Carver's bodyguard."

"Carver? The man Magnum's client was accused of killing?"

"We did some digging and found out Tran and Carver had had a falling out after Tran started embezzling from Carver's company. We searched Tran's place on the North Shore and found the money and the gun used to kill Carver."

"Magnum must have run into him when he visited Carver's office."

"So this guy goes through all the trouble of breaking into Robin's Nest to kill Magnum…why not just run? He had the money."

"Tran had some outstanding debts to pay off with the Yakuza. He needed that money. A guy like Tran has no experience going on the run. If he'd left, they'd have found him. The way he saw it, killing Magnum would make this whole thing go away."

As he listened, the words began to bring him back to consciousness. Slowly, fragments of memories surfaced slowly and assembled themselves into a fuzzy picture. With awareness came pain, prompting him to open his eyes. It took a few tries, but finally his lids fluttered open.

"Ouch…" Thomas managed to croak before he started to cough. Four heads whipped around and suddenly he was surrounded, his friends looking down at him with obvious concern.

"Easy, buddy. You just came off the ventilator. Hang on a sec." Rick said, spooning an ice chip from a nearby cup into Thomas' mouth. Magnum accepted it gratefully, savoring feeling of the icy coolness on his abused throat.

"You're in pain." Higgins observed quietly as she surreptitiously pressed the call button. Thomas just nodded, the beeping of the heart monitor speaking for him.

"Just breathe through it, man. Like we practiced." TC coached. "In…and out…in…and back out…" He continued like that until the nurse finally arrived with the medication. The relief in Thomas' body was immediate. The awful tension leaked from his shoulders and he sagged tiredly back into the mattress. With the pain gone for the moment, more pressing thoughts surfaced. Panic started to overwhelm him again, but he lacked the strength for a physical reaction. Still, Higgins noticed.

"Thomas? What's wrong?" Her small hand squeezed his.

"The…man." He whispered. "Not…nurse…" Thomas knew his explanation was vague at best, but talking suddenly seemed harder than it should be. Even so, the others seemed to understand. Katsumoto perched on the end of the bed and clapped a hand gently on Thomas' leg.

"We got him, Magnum." He assured. "He's in custody now. He can't hurt you again." Katsumoto paused, glancing guiltily at the floor before continuing. "I'm sorry I didn't figure it out sooner. You kept trying to tell me, but I didn't understand."

"S'not you're fault." Magnum slurred. When he felt he'd made his point, he changed the subject. "How…bad?" He asked. Rick sighed.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, TM. It's not good." Rick quickly ran through the list of injuries Thomas received in the fight with Tran. "And if that wasn't enough, you nearly died from the overdose." At Thomas' confused look, Higgins continued.

"When Tran came after you here in the hospital, he tried to kill you by injecting a massive dose of morphine into your IV line. Katsumoto arrived in time to stop him, but Tran was still able to inject half of the syringe. We nearly lost you." She said quietly.

"Doc says you're gonna be okay, but it's gonna take some time." TC added.

"Home?" Thomas asked hopefully. Rick shook his head.

"Not yet, buddy. You're gonna have to stay here a while, okay? But we'll stay with you." It was disappointing to hear, but Thomas had expected it. In all honesty, he knew he'd never make it out the bed. Even now, he could feel his eyes closing of their own accord.

"Sleep, Magnum. We'll be here when you wake up." She promised as she gently tucked the covers around him.

* * *

It was nearly a month before Thomas was able to come home. After weeks stuck within the antiseptic walls of the hospital, he expected to feel comforted when he returned to Robin's Nest. However, as TC pulled through the front gate, Thomas could feel his heart begin to pound uncomfortably in his chest.

"You okay, man?" Rick asked.

"Yeah." Thomas lied.

Climbing out the van was a group effort, requiring both Rick and TC to hoist him down to the pavement. Both men maintained a firm grip on their friend as Thomas worked to overcome the pain and dizziness.

"You good?" TC asked when Thomas finally straightened and tried to shrug out of their grip.

"Never better." Thomas muttered sourly. It wasn't like him to be pessimistic, but something about being back at the estate had him on edge. He was nudged out of his dreary thoughts by the sound of barking. Moments later, Zeus and Apollo came bounding over. Prepared for the worst, Thomas was surprised when they began licking his hands, their tails wagging excitedly.

"Looks like you finally managed to win them over." Higgins mused as she approached the group.

"They're not attacking me…" Thomas said, confusion evident in his voice.

"Surely, not. In fact, they rather seem to like you." She said with a smile, extending her arm as she did so. "Ready?"

"Guess so." If his gloomy demeanor surprised her, Higgins didn't let it show. Instead, she hooked an arm around him and slowly led him toward the house, TC and Rick close behind.

"I've got the guest room all made up for you. I took the liberty of bring over some of your things, pillows and such, so that you can rest a little easier. Kumu was planning on stopping by later to-" They were almost to the front step when Thomas suddenly stopped walking. Juliet looked over and the terrified look in his wide eyed stare caught her off guard. "Magnum? Are you alright?" He said nothing, just stood there, stock still and trembling. Higgins could feel his heart hammering in his chest. She followed his gaze over to the guest house. A dozen or so workmen were busy taking in cleaning supplies and carrying out broken pieces of furniture. Realization dawned on her and she placed a hand on his cheek, gently but firmly turning his face toward hers. "It's over, Thomas." She whispered, loud enough so only he could hear. "He can't hurt you anymore. You're safe here. And you don't ever have to go back in there if you don't want, okay?" Thomas nodded visibly trying to calm himself.

"Okay." He answered, equally as quiet.

"Everything alright?" Rick called from behind them.

"All good, gents." Higgins replied easily, no trace of the previous conversation evident in her tone.

* * *

"Hey, Higgy!" Rick greeted jovially as he got out the Ferrari. He had taken to driving to the sportscar while Thomas was laid up. It had been six weeks since the attack and Rick asserted that a car like that would languish if not driven regularly. Privately, he admitted that he simply liked having a piece of his friend with him. Higgins, surprisingly, didn't seem to mind.

"Good morning. Malasadas?" She asked pleasantly, inviting him into the kitchen.

"You're a saint, Higgy. Mahalo!" Juliet chuckled.

"You're an easy man to please."

"What can I say, eighteen months of prison food really helps you appreciate the little things in life." He paused to shove half a donut into his mouth. "Where's our boy?"

"He's on the lanai right now. I thought some sunshine and fresh air would do him good." She led Rick to the large open door and stopped. Rick raised an eyebrow at the sight of Thomas asleep on the couch, a dog on either side. Zeus' head lay in Thomas' lap and Apollo's front paws were draped over his chest.

"Well that's new…you sure it's safe to leave them like that? They haven't always been his biggest fans." Rick remarked cautiously.

"Quite safe. Since the incident, the lads have really taken a shine to Magnum. They've even become rather protective of him. They'll barley leave his side these days. Proof, I guess, of Magnum's uncanny ability to win people over." Juliet explained. Rick laughed quietly.

"You wanted proof, Higgy, all you had to do was look at yourself."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary: "When we were there, they liked to put Thomas in solitary confinement for long stretches. When he was there, we didn't know if he was dead or alive." Flashback to their time spent in the camp.**

The three of them sat in brooding silence as they picked at what passed for food. None of them could bring themselves to entertain any sort of conversation. During the first week after Thomas had been thrown back in solitary, they had all kept up a steady stream of pointless, but comforting discussion about their friend. _He's a survivor, he'll make it through. He's been through worse. Any day now and they'll bring him back._

* * *

During the following week, the hope began to fade. In the past, the longest they'd ever kept him was eight days. Thomas would inevitably make some smart-ass comment, always with the goal of directing attention away from the others, and the guards would haul him away. Each time, he'd come back to them, a little worse for the wear, but still ready to flash them that signature cocky grin. This time was different. When one of the new prisoners at the camp, a young British marine, had made the mistake of asking for extra water, the guards had been ready to kill him. Thomas, unable to simply stand by as they beat him, intervened. The guards anger rapidly shifted to Thomas and, after a thorough beating, they dragged him off. That had been twelve days ago. Rick was the first to voice his concerns.

"He's been gone too long." He muttered one night. "What if they-"

"Don't. Don't go there, Orville." TC said quietly.

"You have to be thinking it, too." Rick retorted sourly. "And let's face it, he really pissed them off this time."

"He's worth more to them alive." Nuzo pointed out. "They're not just gonna execute an American soldier when they can use him as leverage."

"Unless they decide he's more trouble than he's worth. Look around, Nuz. They ain't exactly short on politically relevant prisoners around here." Rick said, gesturing to the adjoining cells.

"What, so you're just gonna write him off now?" TC shot back. Rick bristled.

"I'm not writing anyone off! All I'm saying is we have to do something…soon."

"And what exactly do you propose we do?" Nuzo asked. No one had an answer for that.

* * *

By the third week, even Nuzo and TC's optimism had withered. It had been eighteen days with no word from Magnum. Whispers traveled through the camp. No one had ever lasted that long in solitary. Anyone who went missing for over two weeks was only ever seen again when his corpse was carried out and thrown into the back of a truck. Each night, Nuzo, Rick, and TC kept watch through the tiny cracks in the walls, praying that Thomas' body wouldn't be next.

* * *

One night, twenty-two days after Thomas had been taken away, they awoke to the sound of metal clanging against metal. It was a familiar routine; when the guards were preparing to open the cell doors, they'd pound against the bars with pipe. It served as a warning to stand away from the door, or else face that pipe on your knees. Exhausted, they shuffled to the back wall. As Rick rubbed grit from his eyes, he peered through the darkness as the guards approached. His heart caught in his throat. There were four guards. The first led the way down the corridor, gun up and ready, closely followed by the second with the pipe. Behind them, two guards dragged a smaller man between them. Even beneath the bruises and shaggy black hair, he could tell it was Thomas. He wanted to run to him, to pry him from their grasp, but he held fast. Rick knew that a misstep right now could easily get Thomas killed. He could feel TC and Nuzo stiffen on either side of him and he knew that they felt the same.

They stood there silently as the door was unlocked and Thomas was thrown roughly inside. Their relief at seeing him again warred with their growing concern as Thomas remained utterly still, face down on the dirt floor. Without a word, the guards relocked the cell and disappeared down the dimly lit corridor. The moment they were out of sight, the three of them sprung into action, sliding to their knees next to Magnum. Nuzo reached him first.

"Thomas? Hey, you with me?" As gently as he could, he rolled Thomas onto his back.

"Jesus…" Rick breathed. His friend was barely recognizable. Three weeks in solitary had left him ghostly pale and frighteningly thin. The only thing that separated him from a corpse was the faint, rapid heartbeat that fluttered in his chest.

"He's burning up." TC muttered as he smoothed Thomas' hair back. Nuzo frowned.

"Shit, look at his wrists." He carefully examined the weeping abrasions. "They must've kept him restrained the whole time. These are infected."

"Ankles too." Rick noted. "God, did they feed him at all? Or give him water?"

"Thomas?" Nuzo called as loudly as he dared, rubbing his knuckles against Thomas's sternum. "I need you to wake up for me, pal." There wasn't much they could do about the infection, but if nothing else, he knew that they needed to get some fluids into him before he died of dehydration. After a moment, Thomas groaned softly. Rick squeezed his shoulder gently.

"That's it, buddy." Rick coaxed. "Come on back to us." Slowly, a pair of dull, sunken eyes fluttered open.

"Welcome back, TM." TC's grin didn't meet his eyes. Even as he said it, Thomas' lids started to close again.

"No no no no no, you gotta stay with us for a bit. I need you to drink a little, okay?" Nuzo said as he lightly tapped Magnum's cheeks. "Rick, grab that canteen. T, lift his head." With surprising gentleness, TC gathered Thomas to his chest, holding him upright.

"Here." Rick said, passing him the canteen. "There's not much." Indeed, the container was barely half full.

"Better than nothing." Nuzo replied as he screwed off the top. "Alright, Thomas, here we go." As the water trickled past his lips, Thomas choked. Coughing weakly, he rolled his head away. "Easy, Thomas. You gotta swallow, okay?" Nuzo tipped the canteen again, helping him take a slow, small sip. "There we go. Have another." Ten minutes later, the canteen was empty and Thomas had drifted off again.

"That wasn't enough." TC said softly, repositioning Thomas so that he lay more comfortably with his head in TC's lap.

"It'll keep him alive until we get more in the morning." Nuzo said with more confidence than he felt.

"He's not gonna last long without antibiotics." Rick murmured as he pressed a cool hand against Thomas's flushed cheek. Thomas moaned and leaned into the touch. "Shhhhhh, we got you, buddy." Rick soothed.

"Hannah…" Thomas' broken whisper was like a punch to the gut. Since the revelation that it was Hannah who had betrayed them, Thomas had refused to speak her name. "Please…don't leave…" Unable to bear the hurt in his friend's voice, Nuzo leaned close and lightly squeezed his shoulder.

"Thomas? It's okay, man. She's not here. You got me, Rick, and TC and we ain't go nowhere." Nuzo's warm Brooklyn accent seemed to ground him, and for moment, Thomas' eyes fluttered.

"Nuz?" He mumbled lethargically. "'m sorry."

"Sorry? What for?"

"My fault…Hannah…s'my fault."

"Listen to me, Thomas." Rick's voice was thick with emotion. "You've got nothing to apologize for, you hear me? Not a single damn thing."

"We don't blame you. Never have, never will." TC added softly. Thomas was shaking now, a single tear leaking from the corner of his eye.

"They wouldn't let me talk." He blurted. "S-said they'd kill you if I started talking. I think they f-forgot 'bout me after a while." Thomas was rambling now, ending his thought with an odd, somewhat hysterical chuckle. Rick's heart wanted to break. Three weeks of suffering alone and in silence had certainly left their mark.

"Shhhhhhh, it's over now. It's over. Come here." He and Nuzo scooted over next to TC and pulled Thomas close. Cradled safely between the three of them, Thomas's carefully constructed walls began to crumble.

"Thought I was gonna…was gonna d-die in there. I c-can't…can't go…back. I can't go back."

"We won't let that happen." Nuzo promised. "They ain't taking you again."

"Not a chance." TC agreed. "You're stuck with us, pal." Thomas laughed, it was weak, but at least it sounded more like the man they knew. The brief conversation had exhausted him and he was beginning to sag more and more into their arms.

"Just rest, bud. Don't fight it." Rick's voice murmured softly in his ear. For the first time in twenty-two days, Thomas slept, confident that he'd make it to the morning.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary: A day at sea goes horribly wrong for Magnum. This time, it's Higgins turn to save him.**

The fierce wind whipped saltwater into Juliet Higgins' face as the tiny boat bounced through the swells.

"So what is it, exactly, that we're looking for again?" Higgins shouted over the roar of the engine.

"The _Dolce Vita_." Thomas called back. "It's an old yacht from the seventies. My client said his father took it out along this route forty-five years ago and never came back. He thinks it sunk somewhere out here."

"And we couldn't do this from the _T.R. Belle_ because…?" She asked, pawing her hair out of her face. It was a cloudy, gloomy day and wind was cool and damp. Higgins longed for the comfort of Robin's boat.

"Come on, Higgy, this isn't so bad!" Magnum flashed her one of his most charming grins. "And, nice as it is, the _Belle_ doesn't have the equipment we needed."

Juliet grudgingly conceded the point. Their current boat, lent to them by Magnum's client, was a tiny fishing vessel patched together from the oddest assortment of parts Higgins had ever seen. Half of the fixtures were held on with duct tape and the steering wheel was definitely from an old Buick. Still, the tiny wheelhouse did contain an impressive array of equipment, including hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of sonar and underwater cameras. According to the client, finding his father's boat had been his life's mission. When he'd gotten too old to go out on his own, he'd hired Magnum to take over. After Thomas had told her about the job, she had of course insisted on being involved, although now she was starting to regret it.

"How much longer do you plan on staying out here? There's some nasty weather moving in from the north."

"Don't you worry, Higgins. We'll be back on shore long before the storm hits. Besides, we're almost done with the route." Thomas assured her. Higgins huffed, pulled her jacket closer around her, and went back to studying the various monitors in front of her. She was jarred from her task a few minutes later as the engine suddenly died, pitching both of them forward onto the floor.

"What the bloody hell was that?" She called.

"Crap…the engine's smoking. Hold on, I gotta take a look at this." Thomas scrambled to his feet and made his way to the stern. The waves beat mercilessly against the hull, rocking the boat roughly from side to side. It had started to mist now, and Higgins huddled under the ripped awning.

"Can you fix it?" She called, stepping out onto the deck.

"I don't know." Thomas replied uncertainly, heading back toward her. "It looks like-"

He never had a chance to finish the sentence as the roar of the explosion drowned him out and plunged the world into fire and water.

* * *

Higgins came to three feet underwater. Her lungs burned as she desperately kicked upward toward the flaming debris above. Surfacing, she alternated between coughing and heaving in lungfuls of salty air. As she looked around, she felt panic rise up inside her.

"Magnum?!" She shouted. Higgins whipped her head around as she treaded water. Around her, all she could see was burning bits of the old boat, and even those were quickly disappearing under the relentless waves. "Magnum!" Refusing to believe that he was dead, that Thomas Magnum had just been edited out of existence, she swam toward the remains of the wheelhouse. In her head, she kept a silent timer going. How long had it been since the explosion? Two, three minutes? How long could Thomas last under the water? As she rode a swell up, she caught a brief flash of something yellow. Magnum had been wearing a yellow shirt…

"Thomas!" She swam as quick as she could, pulling herself toward him with powerful strokes. Once she had recovered from the boat jacking, Higgins had taken it upon herself to become as good of a swimmer as she'd led Magnum to believe that day. Now, she was grateful for the practice. As she neared, she felt her blood run cold. Magnum was floating face down, the water around him tinged an awful red.

"No…" She breathed. Reaching him, she quickly rolled Thomas and pulled him to her. His head flopped limply against her collarbone, blood oozing from a deep gash near his temple. She listened carefully. No breath passed from between his pale blue lips, but his heart still fluttered faintly in his chest. "Alright, Magnum. Stay with me." Higgins whispered.

Without wasting another moment, she hugged him to her from behind, interlaced her fingers, and placed her hands on his chest. Then, with as much strength as she could muster, she began chest compressions. It was a poor excuse for CPR, but it would have to do. She counted to thirty, then tipped his head back and gave him two breaths, all the while trying to ignore how cold and lifeless he felt in her arms. She repeated the process over and over. Thirty compressions, two breaths, thirty compressions, two breaths…

"Don't you dare leave me, Magnum." She panted. "You fight it. Fight, damnit!" She pleaded, pumping harder. Suddenly, Magnum's chest jolted, and water gurgled up from his throat. Higgins held him tight as he coughed and gagged, fighting for each ragged breath.

"That's it, Thomas. There's a good lad." She soothed. "Just breathe. You're okay. I've got you, you're okay." She held him there for maybe ten minutes as he slowly got his breathing under control. Higgins could feel herself tiring. The exertion of swimming while supporting all of Magnum's weight and battling the choppy water was exhausting her. Desperately, she cast around for something, anything to help her. She smiled a little at the sight of the old, moldy life ring floating a few feet away.

"Thomas? Can you hear me?" She shook his shoulder, but he didn't respond. Biting her lip nervously, she pulled him with her as she swam to the ring. It was small, but foam was foam and it was an immediate relief to have something to cling to. She rested for moment, trying to reign in her own breathing. When her chest stopped heaving, she readjusted Magnum so he was cradled against her chest. Now that she finally had a chance to look him over, she felt sick. The wound at his temple was deep and blood still ran from it. A dark, painful looking bruise extended down from the wound across the right side of his face all the way to his jaw. His right eye was puffy and nearly swollen shut. Higgins gently opened his other eye and frowned at the size of his pupil. _Definitely concussed,_ she thought. His once vibrant Hawaiian shirt now hung in singed tatters over his chest, and she winced at the painful, angry burns.

A wave of hopelessness washed over her. Things had happened so quickly that there hadn't even been time to relay a distress signal. Thomas was badly injured and wouldn't last long in these rough seas. As she thought this, rain began pelting down from the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance. She clung more tightly to Thomas, praying selfishly for him to wake up and fix things like he always did. She stared sadly across the water as the last of their boat disappeared. In a moment of divine serendipity, the waves parted just long enough for her to catch glimpse of a shape rising from the ocean. _A boat?_ She rode the swell up once more and she realized that it was a small island about a mile away. A sob of relief hitched in her chest. She patted Thomas' cheeks.

"Magnum? I need you to wake up now, come on." She urged. Mindful of his injuries, she shook him gently.

"Uhhhhnnnnnnn…" Thomas moaned weakly.

"That's it. Can you open your eyes for me?" It took him a minute, but finally he managed to open managed to open his good eye. It was bloodshot and unfocused, but at least he was conscious. She gave her most encouraging smile. "Good. That's good." Her smile faltered as he continued to stare up her without responding. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Mmmmmmmm…" He hummed feebly. The fact that he had yet to actually speak worried her, and her concern warred with the immediacy of the situation.

"Listen to me, Thomas. There's been an accident and the boat sank. We're about a mile from land, but we'll need to swim, okay?" When he did nothing more than blink dazedly up at her, she continued. "I'll do all the work, but it's going to be rough. There's a storm moving in and we need to move quickly. I know you're hurt and I don't know if you can hear me, but I need you to try and hold on to me as best you can, alright?" He said nothing, but as she looped an arm around his chest and began swimming, she felt his hands tighten on her forearm.

* * *

It was pouring by the time they reached the island. The rain pelted down and stung Juliet's cheeks. She was beyond exhausted as she half-carried, half dragged Magnum to shore. Her legs trembled and burned with exertion, but she continued inland until they reached a small rock outcrop. It wasn't much, but it formed a small, shallow cave large enough for the two of them to ride out the storm. Ducking inside, Higgins all but collapsed into the sand. She lay there next to Magnum for moment, just breathing.

"We made it." She mumbled, reaching out and taking his hand. It was then that she realized that he was shivering violently. Juliet cursed herself for forgetting. If she was cold, he must be freezing. Indeed, his skin felt like ice and his lips had turned a dusky blue. Knowing that there was no way she'd ever be able to start a fire in this weather, she settled for the next best thing. She quickly scooted back as far she could into the cave, pulling Magnum with her.

"Alright, here we go." Higgins murmured softly, hugging him close to her body and rubbing her hands vigorously against his arms. She pressed her forehead against his and tried to will her body to warm his.

"Ouch…" A soft whisper drew her pack to the moment and her head snapped up.

"Thomas? Are you with me?" Magnum's brow furrowed as the pain made itself known.

"H-hurtssssssss." He reached blindly for the burns on his chest, but Higgins quickly intercepted his hand."

"Shhhhh, I know. Just ride it out, okay? Squeeze my hand." He did, but his grip was weak.

"I d-don't…what?"

"We were on a boat. There was an explosion and it sunk." Even through the pain, Thomas managed to pry open his eye to look up at her.

"Y-you…hurt?" Juliet shook her head, fighting back tears.

"I'm fine, Magnum." She said as she smoothed his damp hair back, trying to provide what little comfort she could.

"S'cold…why…cold?" She chewed her lip nervously.

"You're in shock and we've been the water for a couple hours. It'll take some time for your body to adjust." Higgins explained, but she wasn't sure he was listening. He said nothing for a few minutes, staring blankly out at the rain. Then,

"What happened?" She frowned.

"I told you, the boat exploded. Something with the engine."

"Boat?" Magnum asked, as if he'd never heard the word before. He seemed more distant now.

"Yes. Do you remember? We were on your client's boat."

"Boat…client…boat…" He mumbled disjointedly before breaking off into a wet cough. Higgins did her best to clamp down on her rising panic. _This is just shock. Shock and a concussion_, she told herself.

"That's right. We were on a boat. The engine failed and you were hurt in the explosion."

"Boat…s'plosion…" Thomas slurred, his words becoming more and more difficult to decipher. "J'liet?"

"I'm here, Magnum." Tears were pouring down her cheeks now.

"Happened?"

He asked her five more times, and each time she explained, he seemed less aware. His words were barely understandable now and he mostly just repeated whatever she said. Higgins felt as though she was watching him disappear. Eventually, he passed out again, and nothing she did woke him.

"Please stay with me." She whispered, pulling him closer to his chest.

* * *

Juliet hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep until an enormously loud clap of thunder shook the island and jerked her back to consciousness. In her arms, Magnum screamed and thrashed, clamping his hands over his ears, holding his head as if trying to keep it from flying apart.

"Thomas?! Shhhhh, you're alright, it's okay." Higgins said, attempting to calm him.

"Boat! Higgins…boat…s'plosion. Maydaymaydaymayday…this is Lieutenant Magnum!" He shouted almost incoherently.

"Easy, Thomas, just relax. It was just thunder. That's all, just some thunder." She soothed. He whimpered softly, panting against the rising pain in his head. He tried to speak again, his mouth opening and closing like a gasping fish.

"Nnnnnnnuuuuhhhhhhhh…" A moment later he lost consciousness, collapsing back into Juliet's arms.

* * *

The storm raged on into the next day, pounding the tiny island from every direction as the fierce wind swirled around them. Higgins knew that while the others had to know they were missing by now, there was no chance of a rescue in this weather. She was also keenly aware of the fact that every hour Magnum went without medical care meant she was that much closer to losing him. She'd done her best, but without even the most basic supplies, there wasn't much she could do. His head injury was growing worse and the burns on his chest had become infected. On top of that, he'd developed a nasty cough during the night that had left him wheezing through congested lungs. She'd spent most of the night catching rainwater in her hands and trying to give it to Magnum. The last thing he needed was dehydration along with everything else.

As the morning dawned, cool and wet, Higgins sat once more in the back of their small cave, holding Thomas. She watched disinterestedly as the rain continued to fall outside, her thoughts drifting toward hopeless what-ifs. She could almost feel the life draining from Magnum and she prayed he could outlast this storm. Higgins was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she almost missed the light that flashed through the gloom. She leaned forward intently, suddenly interested. Just as she was about to dismiss is lightning or a trick of her overly tired mind, she saw it again. This time, the light was accompanied by voices, distant and too muffled to make out. She didn't care.

"Over here!" She called, but her hoarse voice barely managed to carry across the cave. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Help! Over here!" She waited a moment, then,

"Higgins!" There was no mistaking Rick's voice, filled with relief and worry. "Higgy, where are you?"

"In here! Hurry!" A minute later, Rick reached the cave, followed closely by TC and, to her great surprise, Katsumoto.

"Holy Hell…" Rick breathed when he saw them.

"He needs help." Juliet said urgently.

"We got worried when you two didn't come back. What happened?" TC asked, kneeling next to Rick with a first aid kit.

"The engine of the client's boat died and when Magnum went to fix it, it exploded. When I found him he…" She trailed off, unsure if she could finish the sentence. She took a breath, then continued. "He wasn't breathing." The others stiffened.

"How bad is he?" Katsumoto asked, the worry clear in his eyes.

"Bad." Higgins answered, pawing tears from her eyes. "The wounds on his chest are infected and his lungs are bad, but it's his head I'm most worried about."

"Concussion?" TC asked as gently cleaned and bandaged the wound at Magnum's temple. She nodded.

"Or worse. He's hardly been conscious and when he is…"

"Alright, we've got a Shammy waiting with a boat just on the other side of those trees. Can you walk?" Rick asked her gently, carefully pulling Magnum away from her.

"I'll be fine." She asserted. TC snorted.

"Now I know you've been spending too much time with Thomas."

* * *

The ride back to Oahu was its own form of hell. The storm was far from over and the violent seas nearly capsized them twice. As TC and Shammy navigated, Rick and Katsumoto went work on Thomas, providing what little medical care they could below deck in the small cabin. Through it all, Magnum remained oblivious.

"I've got EMS waiting at the docks." Katsumoto said softly, wrapping a warm blanket around Higgins' shoulder and handing her a bottle of water.

"Thanks." Rick, not glancing up as he carefully worked to start an IV. "He's gonna need it."

* * *

It was a week before Thomas regained consciousness. Upon arriving at the hospital, he'd been rushed off to radiology, and then into surgery when the CT scan revealed swelling and a slow bleed in his brain. It was touch and go for hours, but the surgeons finally managed to stop the bleeding and debride the burns on his chest. After surgery, they'd kept him sedated for another three days to allow the swelling to decrease and his intracranial pressure to normalize. In that time, they pumped him full of a myriad of antibiotics as they fought the infection that ravaged his already weakened body. It wasn't until his fourth day there that he started to turn the corner and the doctor's admitted to being "cautiously optimistic."

In that time, his friends hardly left his side. Even when the doctors forced them out of his room, they camped out in the halls of the ICU. They were there when the ventilator was removed, when Thomas was transferred to a more private room, and finally when he woke.

It was a small thing, a minute twitch of his hand, an almost imperceptible increase in the rhythm of the heart monitor, but Rick noticed.

"Thomas? You with us, buddy?" He asked, taking Magnum's hand in his own. "Squeeze my hand if you can hear me, Thomas." It took a moment, but eventually his fingers curled around Rick's. TC and Higgins sighed in relief as Rick beamed at them.

"That's good, man. That's really good. Do you think you can open your eyes for us?" TC coaxed. Slowly, Thomas' lids fluttered open. His eyes scanned around the room before finally focusing on Higgins.

"Hello, Thomas." She said warmly, taking hold of his other hand. "It's good to see you awake." Magnum tried to reply, but his voice came out as no more than a rasping croak.

"Here," Rick offered, spooning an ice chip from a nearby cup into Thomas' mouth. "Better?" Thomas took a moment to savor the icy coolness on his abused throat before answering.

"Better." He whispered.

"How do you feel?" Juliet asked. His brow furrowed as he thought about it.

"Sore…what happened?"

"There was an explosion on your client's boat, remember?" She answered, trying her best not think of all the times he had asked that same question back on the island.

"Sort of? Bits and pieces."

"That's to be expected, TM. You were hurt pretty bad. Some burns and a mother of a head injury." TC went on to fill Thomas in on everything he had missed.

"Yeah, buddy, you owe Higgy one hell of a thank you for saving you ass." Rick joked good naturedly. Thomas looked up at her, his dark brown eyes full of so much gratitude.

"Yes, well…" Juliet mumbled, uncharacteristically modest. "You can thank me by making a full recovery."

"Do my best." He answered tiredly, that same charming smile playing across his lips.

"I'll be here to help you." She added seriously, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"All of us will." Rick chimed in.

"Damn right." TC finished.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Well, it's been quite a while since I've had time to sit down and write anything. I guess spending six weeks off of work after surgery is as good a time as any! I have been enjoying reading all of the wonderful fics that others on here have been posting (even if I haven't had time to leave reviews!) and I figured now that I have a little free time, I should get back into my own.**

**Summary: Magnum may not be as fine as he appears upon his return to Hawaii. I of course took a few liberties and made a few exaggerations. Tag to 2x11.**

* * *

The atmosphere at Robin's Nest was warm and bright. Music played softly from the speaker in the corner and Rick and TC's raucous laughter floated through the balmy evening air. Even Katsumoto was in an uncharacteristically good mood, grinning like a schoolboy as he Facetimed Juan, the young boy who had helped them in South America. The entire scene filled Juliet with a sense of peace, a calmness she hadn't felt for days. And yet…

Her eyes kept flicking back to the bar, where Magnum sat alone and in silence, staring out at the dark ocean. Even from her position on the couch, she could see the unnatural stiffness in his posture and the distant glaze in his eyes. Frowning, Juliet made her way quietly over to him. As she drew near, she had to fight the urge to wince. The livid bruising on his face looked much worse than it had the last time she'd seen him up close. He hadn't said much about his time with Ivan beyond that they'd roughed him up a bit, but the developing bruises spoke volumes. It had scarcely been a day since they'd left the Triple Frontier and the majority of that had been filled with long flights. Given the dark circles around his red-rimmed eyes, Juliet wondered if he'd slept at all during that time. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen the man have more than a protein bar and a swig of beer since leaving the jungle. Enough was enough.

"Thomas?" She called softly, not wanting to startle him. He already looked on edge and if the fine tremors coursing through his body were any indication, it wouldn't take much to startle him right off of his chair. When he gave no indication that he'd heard her, Juliet felt her concern rachet up another notch. For all of her jokes and jibes about his investigative skills, Thomas was an extremely observant man. Biting her lip, she cautiously reached out a hand to lightly grasp his shoulder.

"Thomas? Are you-"

The change was immediate. The instant her fingers touched him his already tense body sprang into action, the bar stool clattering loudly to the floor. In less than a second, he was on his feet and had pinned Juliet to him, one muscular arm binding her arms to her body, the other wrapped tightly around her throat. She could feel his muscles quivering and his chest heaving in quick, uneven breaths.

There was a moment of stunned silence in the room, broken only by the radio still playing in the corner. The sound of the stool falling had caught the attention of the others in the room and their eyes widened as they each took in the scene before them. Still, for just a moment, no one moved. Higgins, for her part, felt quite justified in her inaction. Thomas had rather effectively restrained her and even though she could free herself if she wanted to, she could not do so without resorting violence, which seemed to be the last thing Magnum needed right now. He clearly wasn't in his right mind and, although his grip was starting to make her lightheaded, she couldn't stand the thought of hurting him.

Like Higgins, Katsumoto also fought his instinctual urge to leap into action. His cop training was screaming at him reach for the gun no longer clipped to his belt and demand to see the perpetrators hands. But this wasn't a perp on the street. This was Thomas Magnum. Private Investigator. Pain in his ass. Friend. This was also a vetran. A former Navy SEAL and prisoner of war. This was the man he had just risked his entire career to rescue from hostile territory. He forced himself to look past the threatening stance and the chokehold and to stare directly into Magnum's eyes. What he saw nearly broke him. Magnum's eyes were wide and wild, jumping erratically around the room without really taking anything in. Katsumoto wondered if he was even seeing any of it at all or if his mind had taken him somewhere else completely. He'd seen that same look in the eyes of some fellow officers and it rarely ended well.

It was Rick and TC who finally broke the moment. Rising slowly from where they'd been seated on the couch, they began walking slowly toward their friend, hands low and spread wide.

"Hey buddy, what's going on?" Rick asked, his tone so light and conversational he might've been asking about the weather. Thomas flinched as his gaze snapped toward Rick and his arm momentarily tightened. Still, Juliet gave an almost imperceptible nod, urging him on. Thomas stared for a moment before speaking.

"R-Rick?" He asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, Tommy. I'm here. TC too. You wanna tell us what you're doing?" Rick replied in the same even tone. Thomas' eyes flicked down toward Higgins for a moment, before meeting his friend's again.

"She's...w-we have to get to Hayek!" He shouted, his hoarse voice breaking on the last word.

"Thomas, we got to Hayek. We got him out. We're back in Hawaii now, at Robin's Nest, remember?" TC soothed, his deep voice calm and sure.

"But Ivan...he had…" Thomas trailed off. He was starting to sway a bit now and his grip was starting to falter.

"I know Thomas, but we came for you, remember?" Rick asked softly as he continued to move closer. "All of us man. Me, TC, Higgy, Katsumoto...hell, even Shammy was along for the ride. You remember that, buddy?"

"I remember…" Thomas mumbled. "I 'member the drone...the explosion...s'all a set up, right? Greene?"

"Yeah, TM. That's good." TC said, flashing a small encouraging smile. "But now I need you to do something for me, okay? I need you to look around. Talk to me. What do you see?"

"I see...see couches." Thomas slurred.

"Keep going, Thomas."

"Lamps...table...surfboard."

"Good. Now, last thing, I need you to look down. Look at what you're doing man." Slowly, Thomas' eyes drifted down to where Juliet still stood pinned against him. The sight of her blonde curls and the subtle coconut scent of her shampoo seemed to reset something in his head. His eyes widened and his breathing started to quicken once more.

"Easy, buddy. Just take it easy. Higgy's okay. You didn't hurt her. It's just like in Germany, okay?" Rick coached. "Now, I'm gonna count to three. And when I get to three, you're gonna relax your arms all the way down to your sides and let her go. Can you do that for me?" Still shaking like a leaf, Thomas nodded.

"I need you to say it, Thomas. Say you can do it." Rick pressed gently. He and TC were now less than a foot away and they could see the impending collapse.

"I-I can do it." Thomas repeated.

"Alright. On my count. One...two...three." As if the words had some sort of power over his body, Thomas' arms fell gradually to his sides, moving inches at a time in jerky, uncoordinated movements.

"There you go, man. Just relax. All clear." TC reassured. Juliet waited until his hands completed their descent and flopped limply at his hips before slowly straightening up and stepping away. Finally feeling as though it was safe to stand up, Katsumoto, stepped over and gave her a quick once-over.

"You okay?" He asked, dark eyes filled with concern as they flitted between her and Thomas, who was now fully supported on either side by Rick and TC.

"I'm fine." She assured him quickly. "Won't even bruise." Despite her assurance, she found herself unconsciously rubbing at her throat and she regretted it almost immediately when she caught the stricken look on Magnum's face. The guilt burning in his eyes was like a fist around her heart.

"Juliet...I-I'm so sorry." He stuttered, trying and failing to walk toward her. His legs buckled and he ended up kneeling, half-collapsed against Rick's chest. "I w-would never...I didn't...I thought-"

"Shhhhhh…" Higgins interrupted, rushing to take his face in her hands. "You have nothing to apologize for, do you hear me? Nothing. You've just been through hell, Thomas. You're allowed to not be okay." Exhausted and crashing from the spike the adrenaline, Thomas simply nodded and sagged further into the others, his eyes finally fluttering shut.

"He needs to see a doctor. If he looked bad back there, he looks worse now." Katsumoto commented quietly.

"No hospitals." Rick said firmly. "Not if we can help it."

"Noelani owes me big time. I could give her a call and get her to come check him out and patch him up." TC offered. "Those medics at the base obviously did a shit job, not that Thomas let them do much. Thomas trusts her and we know we can count on her to take care of our boy." Rick stared at him disbelief.

"What the hell did a _tourist helicopter pilo_t do to get a _coroner _to owe him a favor big enough to drag her out of bed this late to...you know what? I don't even wanna know."

"As the cop in the room, I have a feeling I probably don't either." Katsumoto added.

"Alright, Gordy, you switch out for TC so he can call Noelani. You and I'll carry him over to the bed. Jules, you got the door?" Rick asked.

"Of course. I'll call Kumu as well and have her bring over the first aid kit from the main house. I've kept it rather well stocked since Magnum moved in and we may end up needing some of it before Noelani can get here."

Mindful of the multitude of bruises, cuts, and scrapes, TC carefully extricated himself from beneath Thomas. Magnum barely twitched aside from a few winces. After nearly fifty hours without sleep and a massive adrenaline dump, it appeared that the inevitable crash had finally hit and nothing short of a cruise missile would be waking him. It was both relieving and concerning. With as much care as TC, Katsumoto positioned himself beside Rick and helped him carry Magnum the short distance to the bedroom.

* * *

By the time they had him settled, TC was back.

"Noelani said she'd be here in thirty with the 'full Magnum kit.' Wants us to check him over and text her what we find so she can prep. She also said not to be stupid and to call 911 if he started deteriorating."

"Guess first things first we gotta get outta these clothes." Rick said. With practiced efficiency, the four of them had him stripped down to his boxers in a matter of minutes. TC let out a low whistle as the extent of Thomas' injuries became clear.

"Oh my God…" Juliet breathed. In addition to the painful black and blue mess they'd already seen on his face, they could now clearly see the cuts and bruises covering his body. It was clear that he'd been thoroughly beaten, with some on the bruises having the distinct shape of a men's size twelve boot.

"You sure he shouldn't be in a hospital?" Katsumoto asked worriedly. He'd seen corpses that had looked better.

"Trust me man. After the shit he's been through, being in a hospital when he's in this state of mind is the last thing he needs. If it's necessary, I'll be the first to call, but I won't do it I don't have to." Rick said softly as he began examining his friend. "Think about it this way. We spend eighteen months as prisoners of the Taliban, with Thomas being their _guest of honor_. He barely makes it out alive. We finally make it out and get settled here in Hawaii when Thomas gets activated from the reserves for some top secret mission without us. Which of course he can't say no to because he's duty bound and a patriotic son of bitch to boot. That part would've been hard enough. The memories associated with it would've been enough trauma for the whole ordeal. But then he gets set up by someone he trusted and left to die in hostile country. Again."

"Thomas doesn't talk about it. Hell, none of us do, but when we got out of the camp, we were a mess, and I'm not just talking physically. Thomas most of all." TC added darkly. "PTSD is one injury you can't just fix with meds and surgeries and rehab. It sticks with you. We got each other through the worst of it, but it still rears its ugly head every now and then. And that's what you just saw. You put Thomas in a hospital right now, and it'll put him right back where he was, dying of sepsis in a base hospital in Kandahar."

"I don't think I've ever misjudged a man as thoroughly as I have him." Higgins murmured quietly as she gently dabbed at the blood crusted to Thomas' hairline with an alcohol swab.

"Yeah," Katsumoto sighed, "I'm starting to see that too."

* * *

Nearly three hours after Noelani's arrival, she finally deemed Thomas stable and safe to stay home.

"He's extremely dehydrated and his blood sugar was crazy low, so I've got him on a few IVs. Severe bruising...well, pretty much everywhere. Ice will help keep the swelling down. I've brought a few meds for that as well as the pain." She began, stepping just outside of the bedroom where Magnum slept. "Three ribs feel broken for sure, but none that I feel are in danger of puncturing anything. He'll need x-rays to check for further breaks. On that note, his left wrist may have a small fracture. X-rays can wait, but not too long. Partially dislocated shoulder, which I've set and wrapped. Portable ultrasound showed no internal bleeding. He's definitely concussed, which likely contributed to the confusion you described earlier. I'd like him to have a CT, but I can understand your reasoning. I was able to wake him and get him to answer some questions, so I don't think he's in any danger. Keep up with the neuro checks on the schedule I left for you with the other instructions. Expect headaches, nausea, and dizziness for the next few days. You guys know the drill and what symptoms to watch for."

"Been through this a time or two." TC said, exchanging a knowing look with Rick.

"Bottom line? He's beat up, exhausted, and suffering some pretty intense flashbacks. What he needs most is rest, fluids, pain management, and support. I'd like him to come in for some x-rays within the next couple days. If it's easier for him, he can come down to my office and I can take care of it for him."

"You're a saint, Noelani." Rick said, pulling her close and giving her a light peck on the cheek.

"This more than covers that favor." TC said, taking her into a hug of his own. Noelani shook her head.

"It's for Magnum. It doesn't count." She paused for a minute. "For a man who spends his life asking others for favors, he never does it help himself. It's always for someone else." With that, she grabbed her bag and slipped out the door.

The four of them stood in exhausted silence, slumped against the wall outside of Thomas' room. They were dead tired, but none of them could bring themselves to leave. Finally, Juliet spoke up.

"I suppose we should start a rotation. I can take the first shift. You lads can rest up on the couch." She mumbled tiredly.

"I got second. Wake me in two hours, Higgy." TC said, giving her curls a fond ruffle before heading down the hall.

"Guess that makes me third." Rick yawned before turning to Katsumoto and holding out his hand. "Appreciate your help tonight, man. I guess the last few days. Sorry we kept you here so late. If you leave now you can at least catch a couple hours of sleep before work." Katsumoto shook Rick's hand and gave a small, tired smile.

"I told the guys at the precinct I'd be out at least through tomorrow. I've got fourth watch." Rick grinned back at him.

"Careful, Gordy, or our resident private investigator is gonna start noticing that you care."

* * *

Juliet sat curled in the armchair she had pulled up next to Thomas' bed and stared out the window. The sun was just beginning to rise and she could feel the exhaustion pulling at her. The distant sounds of the ocean and Thomas' steady breathing were quickly lulling her to sleep, no matter how hard she fought it. There was less than ten minutes left on her shift and she'd be damned if she gave in now.

A sudden noise startled her out of her exhausted daze. Her eyes quickly snapped down to the bed, where Magnum was on the verge of hyperventilating, gasping in quick shallow breaths as he squeezed his eyes shut tight.

"Thomas? What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Juliet asked, hands fluttering uncertainly over his battered body.

"N-no...no m-more." He begged so quietly she could barely hear him.

"No more what, Thomas?" She asked, almost as softly as she smoothed back the dark hair that clung the cold sweat forming on his brow.

"No more...g-gunpowder, Nuz. Not…'gain." He whimpered. Juliet closed her eyes, willing back the tears. She'd never gotten the full story from any of them, but judging from the scar and their cagey responses, the "gunpowder" incident wasn't a pleasant one.

"Shhhh, no more gunpowder. I promise." She soothed. Without thinking, she took one of his cold, clammy hands in her own and began rubbing small circles with her thumb.

"Promise?" Thomas asked, his voice so raw it hurt to listen to.

"I promise. Never again. Now rest, Thomas. You're safe now."

"Please...don' leave." Maybe it was the exhaustion, or the painkillers Noelani had given him, but at the moment, Magnum was completely, heartbreakingly honest. There were no filters or attempts to hide his feelings.

"I won't. I promise you, Thomas, you won't be alone. Now close your eyes." Magnum did as he was told, but Juliet could tell he was still on edge. Without a second thought, she grabbed a well-worn White Knight novel off of the nearby shelf, opened it to a dog-eared page, and began reading.

"To most, they seemed an odd choice for a special ops team. A mismatched band of loud-mouthed mavericks with a penchant for getting into trouble. Every new commander that saw them must've thought they were the four horsemen of the apocalypse storming their base. Even reading their service records and mission reports wasn't enough for them to believe that this was their all-star team. After all, who would've thought that two marines, one a gentle giant, the other a sarcastic playboy with authority issues, would ever combine with two Navy SEALs, a good 'ol boy from Brooklyn and a make-it-up-as-I-go pretty boy, to form one of America's most effective and successful joint special operations teams."

As she read, Juliet couldn't help but smile at Robin's descriptions. Glancing up briefly, she was relieved to see the tension ebbing out of Thomas as he drifted back to sleep. Even as she heard the door opening, she kept reading, not wanting to disturb the temporary peace. After a moment, TC's rich voice joined hers. Without comment, he took the book and continued to read, ushering her out of the room for some much needed rest. With one last look through the bedroom door, Juliet caught a glimpse of a faint smile on Thomas's bruised face.

* * *

**Well, that took much longer than I expected! I guess I'm a lot more tired than I thought I'd be. Hopefully I caught all of my spelling and grammar mistakes, but I am also still pretty drugged up. My husband looked it over as well, but he's dead tired since he's been on full kid duty with me out of commission. Please feel free to let me know what you all are liking or not liking and what you'd like to see next!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Here's a short little thing while I work on a slightly longer chapter. It's taking me a little longer than I thought it would to write these things. Who knew surgery could be this exhausting? I keep falling asleep mid-sentence. As always, I appreciate everyone who took the time to leave a review and a special thank you to those who wished me a speedy recovery.**

**Summary: Magnum learns the hidden dangers of the accepting non-monetary forms of payment from his clients. **

**Not a botanist or a doctor here. Shout out to reviewer roxtonissexy for the idea!**

* * *

The world around him was fading now, his vision tunneling into a black hole and his hearing wavering like a badly tuned radio. Even the incredible pain in his chest was dying down. The last thought that crossed Thomas Magnum's mind as the darkness finally claimed him was simple. _So this is it? After everything, this is how it ends? Death by fruit basket…_

* * *

_Fifteen Minutes Earlier_

A loud knock rapped on the front door just as Magnum was pulling on a shirt after his morning swim. The knock was almost immediately followed by the sound of something jiggling the handle and the door opening. While normally the sounds of someone entering his home uninvited would be cause for alarm, there was no mistaking the distinctive knock of Juliet Higgins and, aside from Kumu, Rick, and TC, she was the only other person with a key. Sure enough, not a second later he heard a voice down the hall ask,

"Magnum, are you decent? Or shall I just wait out here, lest you expose-"

"Hey, that one was on you!" Thomas chuckled, emerging from his bedroom to meet her in the kitchen. "I keep telling you that knocking isn't enough. You gotta wait for people to answer the door and not just burst in here just because you have a key."

"Yes, well _most_ people don't waltz around half naked near as much as you...which is a rather bold choice considering the number of windows in this place." She said, arching an eyebrow and grinning.

"That doesn't exactly sound like a complaint, Higgy." Thomas laughed, giving her a mischievous wink. "So what's up?"

"It appears our payment for the Malinosa case has arrived." Juliet gestured to the rustic looking basket on the counter piled high with what Thomas assumed was fruit, although he couldn't quite identify any of the items. "Tell me Magnum, do you even accept money anymore in exchange for our services or are we strictly on the barter system now?"

"Aw come on Jules, I'm sure the Malinosa's will settle up when they can. Now that we cleared Pauli's name, he can start working again. They'll get us the money." Thomas assured her. "This is just them saying thank you with a basket of...fruit? That is fruit right?" He asked, staring intently at the odd assortment of produce before them. Juliet tilted her head squinted at the card attached to the basket.

"Beats the hell out of me. I'm a trained former MI6 operative, been to nearly every country, and I can't even recognize what language this is written in. Did Pauli ever say where he emigrated from?" Frowning, Thomas looked at the card as well. He personally spoke six languages and could recognize at least a dozen more and the writing on the card was completely foreign to him.

"No…" He said, selecting a large red piece from the basket that resembled a cross between strawberry and peach. "Come to think of it, I can't even pin down his accent..._but_, what I do know is that he and his wife are good, hardworking, honest people and they just sent us this lovely basket as a thank you. It would be rude to let it go to waste." Thomas looked from the basket to her, raising his eyebrows meaningfully.

"I suppose…" Juliet said, grimacing slightly as she plucked a small, yellow, grape-like berry from the edge. "Cheers."

Tapping their selections together in a mock toast, they each took a bite. Higgins was immediately surprised by the flavor. The small fruit had the exact texture of a grape, yet tasted like a mix between a pineapple and a cherry. It was confusing and wonderful all at once.

"Oh my...that's actually quite good!" She exclaimed. Glancing up, Thomas clearly wasn't having a similar experience. His face was pinched and tinged slightly green. He set the offending fruit gingerly on the counter and gave it a look of pure disgust.

"Yeah...mine? Not so much." He said, coughing slightly as he walked to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

"Here, try one of these. They're amazing!" Juliet quickly dug through the basket until she found another one of the small yellow grapes and offered it to Magnum.

"Just a sec." He croaked, gulping down the water between coughs. He had the strangest tingling itch in the back of his throat and his skin was starting to feel unnaturally tight and hot.

"Oh come on, it can't have been _that_ bad." Higgins scoffed, popping another yellow grape into her mouth. Thomas' only answer was to continue to cough, loud and harsh. She glanced up, suddenly concerned by the sight of him braced against the counter. "Magnum? Are you alright?"

"J-Jul-" He barely managed to wheeze before breaking off into another coughing fit. It was then that Juliet noticed the angry red rash spreading across Thomas' body.

"Thomas!" Even as she sprinted over, his shaking arm lost its grip on the counter and he collapsed to the floor. As she slid to her knees next to him, she began cataloging all of his symptoms. _Coughing, wheezing, rash, hives, swelling…_

Thomas' condition was worsening quickly, that much was obvious. He was practically hyperventilating as she pulled his chest into her lap. Each breath sounded weaker than the last. It was also clear that he was starting to panic. Gently, but firmly, she took his face in her hands and gave his cheeks a few sharp taps.

"Thomas, look at me. You're having a severe allergic reaction to whatever it was you just ate. I need to call for an ambulance and I don't have my phone with me. Where is your phone?" Juliet asked, keeping her voice deliberately calm and clear. Thomas tried a few times to speak, but gave up after a moment and started gesturing frantically at his shorts pocket with a puffy, swollen hand. Without wasting a second, she tore into his pocket, located the phone, and immediately dialed 911. After relaying the situation and code to the front gate, she returned all of her attention to Magnum. In the few minutes it had taken to complete the call, he had deteriorated rapidly. His face was swelling even as she watched to the point where she could scarcely recognize the man as her partner. He was no longer coughing, but his breathing was so weak and shallow that his swollen lips were starting to turn blue. She felt powerless, sitting there and waiting. Give her a bullet wound and at least she could fumble her way through a decent field dressing. This was totally out of her element. With nothing else left to give, Juliet gathered him close to her chest and held him.

"Don't you dare leave me, Thomas Magnum." She whispered, burying her face in his dark hair. "Stay with me."

* * *

Thomas woke slowly, incrementally, as he dredged his way from the depths of unconsciousness. His entire body felt leaden and he couldn't summon the energy to move a muscle. Around him, he could hear a soft, rhythmic beeping, smell the sharp, clean antiseptic, and feel the distant sting of a needle in his hand. _Hospital_...his sluggish mind supplied helpfully after a moment. Now that he knew where, he knew he should figure out why, but moving was just too damn hard. He wanted to look around, but his eyelids felt as though they had been welded shut. He floated for time, not yet awake, but not quite asleep. Every now and then, something would tug at him, demanding his attention; the squeeze of the blood pressure cuff, footsteps around him, a tug on his IV, a small hand grasping his own. For now, however, he was content to drift in this world without fear, without pain.

* * *

Sometime later, how much later he didn't know, voices began to filter through.

"Hey, how's our boy? He show any signs of waking up?"

"Not even a twitch. His doctor says that's normal. Said that he'd be pretty out of it for a while, even after he woke up."

"Hell of a thing...Just glad you were there, Higgy."

"I don't know that I did much...rather useless actually."

"Hey, don't talk like that. It was your quick thinking that got help there in time. That's all you could do. All anyone could do. You saved his life, Jules."

"Yes, well there wouldn't have been any need had I stopped him from eating it in the first place."

"Higgy Baby, this was a freak accident. You had no way of knowing that he'd be allergic to any of that. You have no idea if someone's gonna be allergic to anything. You know how seriously Thomas takes gifts from clients. He would've eaten it with or without you. I for one am just glad you were there."

"I second that. I also recommend you go home and get a few hours of sleep. No offense Jules, but you look like crap."

"Charming as always. Tempting as that sounds, I want to be here when he wakes up."

"At least go get a cup of coffee? I'm buying?"

"Fine, but only because you asked so nicely."

"Be back in a bit, Orville. Keep him out of trouble."

"Bring me back a Bear Claw!"

For a minute, no one spoke. Thomas was dimly aware of the sounds of heavy footsteps and something scraping on the floor. Finally, there was a soft sigh off to his right.

"You never make things easy, do you buddy?" This got Thomas' attention. This time, he was aware to recognize that the voice belonged to Rick. He was also aware enough to feel just a little indignant. He wasn't exactly sure what landed him here, but he was positive that it wasn't his fault and he decided to voice these feelings.

"Nuhhh fahh…" He mumbled. Okay, not the outcome he'd intended. His lips felt weird and tingly, almost separate from his face. And now that he thought about it, his tongue felt like an oversized lump in his mouth. Still, his pathetic attempt at speech got a reaction nonetheless. Instantly, he felt a large, warm hand slip into his own and give it a gentle squeeze.

"Thomas? You with me, bud?" Rick asked, his voice full of hope.

"Ith nuhh...fah." Thomas tried again. He felt that it was important for Rick to understand that it was not fair to blame him for whatever his current predicament was.

"What? I don't understand, Tommy...Hang on a sec. Doc said you could have a sip or two of water." A moment later, Thomas felt a straw poking between his lips. The water felt heavenly on his parched throat, but he was pretty sure most of it dribbled down his chin. His theory was confirmed a moment later when a soft washcloth gently dabbed him dry. "Better?" Rick asked.

"Mmmmm...be'er." Thomas slurred.

"Good. Think you can open your eyes for me, buddy? I know they're still a little swollen, but they should be okay now." Thomas thought about it for a moment. It seemed like a lot of effort, but Rick seemed so earnest and he hated to let his friend down. It took all of his concentration, but after a moment, he was able to pry his lids open halfway. He was greeted by a very blurry Rick looming above him, grinning like a fool.

"There you are! Had us pretty worried for a bit there, TM."

"Wha' 'appen?" Thomas croaked. Rick frowned.

"You don't remember?" Thomas just shook his head. "Well, one of your clients, Pauli Malinosa, sent over some sort of fruit basket as thank you. Only problem is no one knows what the hell any of these fruits are. Hell, no one even knows what country this guy's from. Anyway, turns out you are severely allergic to one of the fruits in the basket. One bite sent you into anaphylactic shock. The ambulance barely made it in time. If Higgins hadn't been with you…" Rick trailed off, allowing the implication to sink in. "Anyway, docs say you'll be fine after a while. They said you might have some issues with talking and swallowing for the next day or so, which you clearly do, but that should wear off soon enough." Thomas took a minute to process, his exhausted brain struggling to comprehend everything Rick had just told him.

"Death by fwoot basketh'..." He mumbled. Rick chuckled and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Death by fruit basket? Yeah, buddy, almost." As he answered, the door opened and TC and Higgins entered, arms laden with coffee and donuts.

"Thomas!"

"Hey, Tommy!"

TC and Juliet's simultaneous exclamations upon realizing their friend was awake were quickly followed by a rush to set everything down on the nearby table.

"How ya feeling?" TC asked, sitting on the end of the bed.

"Tired." Thomas answered honestly. Indeed, his lids were already beginning to dip, the short conversation having already exhausted him.

"Well, you certainly look better." Higgins said, smoothing, back his hair. "I'm sure you'll be up and terrorizing the nurses in no time." Thomas gave her a goofy, lopsided grin and pointed to the coffee and pastries on the table.

"Any...fo' me?" He asked hopefully. Higgins slapped his finger lightly away.

"Absolutely not! You are not having anything until you've undergone full allergy testing. I don't want anymore 'mystery fruit' surprises." She ranted. "And while we're on the subject, we are no longer accepting anything but cash payment in return for our services, gift or otherwise. I swear, one more bloody chicken and I'll feed it to the lads!"

* * *

**AN: Just for clarification, I am not a botanist or a doctor. Everything you read here comes from Google, personal experience, or just making up as I go. I hope you all enjoyed! If you have something you'd like to see next, let me know.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Finally, a little longer chapter. I needed to write something a little different from my usual style. I hope you all enjoy!**

**Summary: Thomas and Katsumoto run into some trouble while working a case together and are forced to rely on one another for survival. Very minor spoiler for 2x12.**

* * *

His return to consciousness was abrupt and painful. One moment, he was floating obliviously through the endless black. The next, the pain and adrenaline slammed into Magnum with enough force to snap him back to reality. He tried to gasp in a deep breath, but something was covering his mouth. _Duct tape? What the hell…_

His wrists and shoulders were positively screaming for attention and, looking up, he could see that he was chained to some sort of pipe above his head. At that height, his bare feet barely brushed the floor. Heart pounding wildly, Thomas could feel the panic setting in. Squeezing his eyes shut tight, he forced himself to take slow, deliberate breaths through his nose. _Stay calm, work the problem_, he told himself.

_Injuries?_ Well, his head hurt worse than it had after Nuzo's bachelor party and he could feel blood crusted from his temple down to his eye, so a concussion was probably a given. Something was...off with his chest. Broken ribs maybe? It was hard to tell. Broken ribs were painful, but survivable. All in all, he felt like crap and the strain in his shoulders was almost unbearable, but he wasn't dying. Good. Next step.

_What's the last thing you remember?_ He thought back to the last case he'd been working. Their most recent client had hired them to locate some missing packages from his warehouse. Things had gotten complicated when they'd found one of the packages, only to discover it was full of cocaine. Naturally, HPD had gotten involved, with Katsumoto taking the lead on the investigation. While their client had no prior knowledge of the drugs, it was suspected that his shipping partner, Warren Caid, was part of a smuggling ring that was using his warehouse as a way to get the product onto the island. Magnum had been allowed to stay on the case conditionally to help convince the perpetually nervous client to talk to his partner while wearing a wire. The last thing Thomas remembered was the man adamantly refusing any further involvement as he jumped in his car and sped off, leaving him and Katsumoto alone in his warehouse. Clearly something had happened between then and now, but it was all a blank to him.

With one last deep, if shaky, breath, Thomas opened his eyes and began looking around for anything that could help him make sense of his current situation. From what he could see in the dim light, he was in some sort of small, dingy concrete room. There were no windows or vents and the only point of exit seemed to be a single metal door. Spinning slowly to his left, he felt his stomach drop. Bound much the same as him, Katsumoto hung limply from his own set of chains. Blood oozed from a nasty looking cut on his forehead and a dark bruise covered most of one side of his face. He wasn't moving. Thomas wanted to scream, to run to him, to check for a pulse, but all he could manage beyond the duct tape and his own parched throat were muffled grunts. Katsumoto didn't so much as twitch. The only thing that kept him from complete panic was the subtle rise and fall of the other man's chest.

_Okay, new plan. Get to Gordon and get the hell out._ Thomas glared up at the giant rusty lock on the chains above him. Easier said than done. His eyes were casting desperately around the room for anything that could help him when he saw something on the ground a few feet away. It was hard to tell exactly what it was with his vision so blurred, but it looked like a couple of old nails. His mind started formulating a plan immediately. Nails may not be the ideal lock pick, but they'd do in a pinch. Now he just needed to get to them. Try as he might, he couldn't quite reach them with his toes and the attempt left him shaking with pain. Still breathing heavily, he shot a worried glance at the door. He'd yet to hear anything from whoever had grabbed them, but he suspected it wouldn't be long before someone came in. He had to try something and he had to do it fast.

_Think, Magnum._ Reexamining the chains, Thomas suddenly noticed the pipe that they were wrapped around. It was relatively thin and looked like copper. An idea began forming in his head. Copper was a relatively soft metal. Great for pipes, not so much for supporting an ex-Navy SEAL. Knowing that it was going to hurt, he gave the chains an experimental tug, dropping his weight hard to the floor. Sure enough, even as the skin ripped off of his already chafed wrists, the pipe groaned and started to bend. He doubted he could break it, not it time anyway, but if he could bend it downward just enough to give him some slack, he could reach the nails. Casting one last concerned look over at Katsumoto's still form, Magnum set his jaw and began heaving on the chains. The pain was incredible. His muscles felt as though they were ripping apart and his hands like he'd shoved them into a meat grinder. Still, he persisted. With his eyes closed, he couldn't tell if it was sweat or blood running down his body and he found he didn't much care. He had one goal. _Get to Gordon and get the hell out._ _Get to Gordon and get the hell out. Get to Gordon and get the hell out._

He didn't know how long he'd been at it, but suddenly Thomas realized that his feet were flat on the floor. Chest heaving, he looked up and saw that the pipe had bent down several inches. Without wasting a second, he stretched his leg out, reaching for the nails. _Come on, come on...gotcha!_ Clenched tightly in his toes, he quickly dragged them over to him. He paused for a moment, dragging in ragged breaths through his nostrils, steeling himself for what would come next. Then, with a mighty heave, he pulled his feet up to his hands. If he thought the pain had been bad before, he was in absolute agony now. The bending motion required to pass the nails from foot to hands sent spikes of white hot fire through his chest. Something was definitely wrong. He knew broken ribs and this was much more than that. For the first time, he was grateful for the duct tape. Without it, he knew the sounds of his screams would have drawn their captors attention. Finally, his slick fingers managed to grasp the nails. He was then confronted with the issue of the position of the lock itself. Wedged tightly against the chains, he'd need to hold it away from them as he worked. But, he'd need both hands to pick that lock, which meant he'd have to use his foot to hold it in place. Knowing that he couldn't maintain this position for much longer, Thomas quickly shifted his foot to expose the opening of the lock and, with trembling fingers, inserted the nails inside. His body was shaking harder now, but he pushed the pain aside, his mind focused only on the task in front of him. He couldn't see much of the lock, so he was navigating the mechanism mostly by feel. Luckily, it was an older, less complex model and, in less than a minute, the shackle sprang open. There was a millisecond in which Thomas thought, _Higgy would be so proud_, before his body crashed to the floor.

Time seemed to stop. He had been so focused on the lock that the sudden impact knocked all sense from him. He could actually feel bones shift and skin split. As his left shoulder connected with the concrete, there was a sickening pop and it was all he could do to stay conscious. The darkness wanted to pull him back in, but he fought it. _Gotta...stay...awake...Get to Gordon and get the hell out. _Gradually, the pain started to fade to a slightly more tolerable level and Thomas realized that, while far from steady, the world was no longer tilting around him. Reaching up with a swollen right hand, he carefully removed the tape from his mouth and gulped in lungfuls of damp, stale air. Still panting, he rolled his eyes slowly over to Katsumoto, who still hadn't moved.

"Shit." Thomas rasped, his blood running cold. This sight of the detective was enough to get him up and moving. With as much speed as he could muster, Thomas clumsily struggled to his feet. The dizziness threatened to knock him back down, but he resolutely ignored it and stumbled over to Katsumoto. As gently as possible, he tore the tape off of his mouth and began firmly patting his cheeks.

"Gordy? You with me? Come on man, you gotta wake up." Magnum urged, a note of pleading in his voice. Katsumoto groaned softly.

"Uhhhnnnnn...Magnum?" He mumbled dazedly as his eyes slowly fluttered open. Thomas couldn't help the slightly hysterical laugh.

"Yeah, man. It's me. You okay?" He asked.

"No I'm not okay." Katsumoto groused as he looked around. "I'm chained to a pipe in some coke smuggler's warehouse."

"Yeah, okay I'll give you that one." Thomas conceded. "But any obvious injuries before I get you down? I don't wanna make anything worse." Katsumoto considered for a second.

"I don't think so. Beat to hell, but nothing critical. What about you?" He asked, dark eyes shining with rare concern as he took Magnum's gory appearance. "You look like hell. Your side is covered in blood." He remarked shrewdly. Thomas glanced down, surprised to see a dark red stain spreading down the left side of his chest.

"S'nothing. Worry about it later. Right now, let's focus on-" Thomas stopped suddenly, eyes snapping to the door.

"What is it?" Katsumoto whispered, picking up on the urgency of the situation.

"Voices." Thomas replied just as quietly. The voices were getting louder, just outside of their door now. Thinking quickly, he spotted a rusty hammer lying in one corner. It wasn't big, but it would have to do. "Alright, listen to me. We're probably about to have some company in a second. I don't have time to get you down, so you're gonna stay here and you're gonna keep your eyes shut. Don't let them know you're awake. I'll take them out. Okay? Okay." Without another word, he moved off to grab the hammer.

"That is literally the worst plan. Magnum!" Gordon whispered fiercely as he watched the other man position himself near the door, hammer at the ready. Fuming, but with no better option, he did his best to close his eyes and sag back against the chains.

Thomas knew that they were in trouble the moment the door opened. The two men that stepped in were instantly on alert.

"Where the hell's the P.I.?" Growled the first man, a big blond with a wicked scar.

"Door's still locked. No way he got out." Muttered the other, an enormously muscular man with a dark crew cut.

"Shit, Caid's gonna-" That was as far as Blondy got before Thomas struck. The man had positioned himself perfectly with his back to him, and Thomas swung the hammer, catching him squarely in the side of the head. Blondy went down hard, his legs crumpling underneath him. Unfortunately, Crew Cut caught on fast and was on Magnum before he'd finished his swing. He rushed Thomas, pinning him to the wall and clamping both hands around his throat. Gagging and gasping for breath that wouldn't come, Thomas swung the hammer at Crew Cut's back with as much strength as he could he muster, burying the clawed end in the base of his neck. Instantly, the man's grip slackened and he tumbled back with an odd, wet gurgle. Panting and wheezing, Magnum struggled weakly to his feet. He was just heading over to check Crew Cut's pulse when he heard Katsumoto shout,

"Magnum, behind you!" Thomas whirled to see Blondy lurching unsteadily toward him.

"What are you, the Hulk?" Thomas muttered incredulously. With his trusty hammer still wedged firmly in Crew Cut's spine, Thomas let his SEAL training take over. The adrenaline surge from the fight was serving him well and was doing an excellent job of dulling the pain from his various injuries. He could do this. Blondy may be big, but he was also damaged goods and Thomas didn't need a weapon to end this. At least he hoped not.

Moving as fast as his battered body would allow, Thomas rushed into him, stomping hard on Blondy's foot with his heel, then quickly bringing his knee up to smash into the man's groin. As Blondy doubled over, Magnum drove his right elbow into the back of his neck, feeling the _crunch_ as the bones broke. And just like that, Blondy fell forward onto the floor and the fight was over. Not trusting the moment, Thomas, carefully crouched down and pressed shaking fingers to each man's throat to confirm that they were no longer a threat. As he did so, he also did a quick search of each man's pockets and was relieved to find a gun, a knife, an old key ring between the two of them. Sure, a phone would've been nice, but the universe was rarely that generous. As he turned back to Katsumoto, he was confused by the shocked expression on the man's face.

"What?" Thomas asked a little breathlessly.

"Son of a bitch...you actually pulled it off." Gordon said, shaking his head in disbelief. Thomas snorted.

"Prison camp, Gordy. You learn to do a lot with a little. I once saw a guy make a shiv with a...nevermind. Let's just get you down, okay?"

"You sure you're okay?" Katsumoto asked as Thomas started to try keys on the lock.

"Fine." Magnum replied distractedly.

"Really? Because, you're dripping blood, your left arm's way longer than it should be, and I just watched you get your ass kicked." Katsumoto countered.

"Like I said, worry about it later. And hey, as I recall, I was the one doing most of the ass kicking. Just hang tight, one of these is bound to be it." Sure enough, on the third key, the lock sprang open and released the detective. However, as soon as Katsumoto's legs were forced to take his weight, he let out a sharp cry of pain and his right leg buckled. It was only Thomas' quick reflexes that kept him from collapsing completely to the ground. Even so, his vision greyed out and he nearly collapsed himself when all of his friend's weight came crashing down on his injured shoulders.

"Whoa, hey what's wrong?" Thomas asked, trying and failing to keep his voice even.

"My leg." Katsumoto ground out. "Something's wrong with my knee. It won't hold any weight." Thomas glanced down at the other man's leg. He couldn't see the knee itself, but the fabric of the pants around it was stretched tight from the obvious swelling and the angle looked wrong even to his untrained eye. "There's no way I'm walking out of here on this. You're gonna have to-"

"No. Not a chance. You stay here and you're a sitting duck. They'll kill you. I'm not leaving you." Thomas cut him off.

"What are you gonna do, carry me?" Katsumoto asked sardonically.

"If I have to." Thomas answered seriously. Gordon stared at him in disbelief.

"Magnum, you can barely stand on your own. There's no way-"

"Look," Thomas interrupted, "we can stand here arguing, wasting time _we don't have_, or we can get moving. I don't leave my people behind. Now, are we gonna do this thing?" Katsumoto sighed.

"How do you want to? Any way I do this is going to hurt you."

"Don't worry about that." Magnum said dismissively. "If you put your left arm around my shoulders and I help hold you up with my right, do you think you can walk?"

"Only one way to find out." Carefully, they shifted into position, with Thomas taking most of Katsumoto's weight. The moment the detective's arm touched his dislocated shoulder he nearly screamed. "Magnum?" Katsumoto's voice sounded strangely distant.

"Jus' gimme a sec." Thomas mumbled. After a moment, he straightened as much as his injured chest would allow. He was still riding the adrenaline high from his fight with Crew Cut and Blondy and he didn't want to waste it. "Alright. Let's go."

* * *

Their progress was slow and awkward as they hobbled through the old building. From what they could tell, they were being held in some sort of old, abandoned textile factory. Twice, they saw more of Caid's men, but managed to slip by undetected. As they moved, Katsumoto was becoming more and more concerned about Magnum. Thus far, the P.I. had brushed off any concerns about his health, but there was no denying that he looked like an extra in a horror film. He seemed to be moving well enough and he was somehow able to support Katsumoto, but he was also leaving behind a disturbing amount of blood. Nevermind the risk of detection, Gordon knew that kind of blood loss only came from a severe injury. He knew Magnum was riding an adrenaline high right now, which was both a blessing and a curse. It kept them mobile, but it also meant that a crash was coming sooner or later. And when it came…

* * *

They were getting close to the exit. After struggling their way up an old staircase, which had been its own form of hell, they'd been relieved to see light filtering through grimy windows high above them. Even better, they'd spotted an old exit sign atop one of the doorways, hanging precariously from a few frayed wires, its light long burnt out. Nonetheless, its arrow still pointed the way out. Katsumoto could only hope that, provided they could sneak out of the building undetected, there would be some sort of vehicle they could hotwire. He could feel himself flagging and he knew he wouldn't be able to walk much longer. He felt a sharp pang of guilt as he glanced over at Magnum. If he felt this bad, he couldn't imagine what the other man must be feeling. He'd silently been monitoring the way Thomas had begun stumbling and the way his breathing had taken on a harsh, wheezing rattle. He could no longer ignore the feeling of blood, hot and wet, soaking into his own shirt from where it rubbed against Magnum. How the hell was he still on his feet? Most men, including himself, would be curled up in a corner somewhere. Instead, here he was, practically carrying another man, pushing forward with only one goal in mind. It made him question everything he thought he'd known about Thomas Magnum. Katsumoto had no idea how Thomas had gotten out his restraints, but one look at his shredded wrists and dislocated shoulder told him enough. Whatever laidback, jovial face Magnum showed the rest of the world, there was another side to this man. Katsumoto had long since given into grudgingly accepting that Magnum was a man who was not just tougher, but also smarter in a fight. However, for the first time, he was seeing the soldier, the trained special operative, the man who'd survived eighteen months in hell, with the only goal of getting his team out alive.

* * *

Gordon was absorbed in his thoughts that he almost tripped when Magnum stopped abruptly and pulled them back into the hallway they'd just come from.

"What is it?" Katsumoto whispered.

"Exit's right up ahead, but there's eight men, including Caid. No way to get by without them noticing."

"Okay, maybe we can double back, find another exit?" Katsumoto suggested halfheartedly.

"You think you can make it that far? We have no idea where the next exit is and there could be just as many of Caid's guys there."

"What other choice…" Katsumoto trailed off, eyes snapping over to the windows above them. "You hear that?" Thomas took a moment to listen and grinned.

"Sirens. They must've found us."

"You sure Higgins didn't follow through with that threat insert a tracker under your skin?" Katsumoto deadpanned, feeling some of the tension bleed out of his shoulders.

"Wouldn't put it past her." Thomas chuckled quietly. "All we have to do is wait them out and-" Suddenly, there were shouts from all around them. They could hear men's voices calling from the exit and footsteps fast approaching from right behind.

"Shit, they heard it too." Katsumoto swore.

"Sirens are almost here." Magnum said, pulling Gordon back onto his shoulders and readying himself. "We're sitting ducks here. We gotta make a run for the exit."

"What about Caid's men?"

"No choice. It'll be close. We just have to get behind HPD's firing line and let them take care of the rest." Magnum paused, locking eyes with him. "You ready?" Katsumoto nodded.

"Let's go." With that, they took off. With speed being of the essence, Thomas was essentially carrying Katsumoto as they charged into the small loading bay. Outside, they could see a line of police cruisers roaring into the dilapidated parking lot, but there was still thirty yards between them and safety. The moment they entered, Caid and his men began drawing guns. As they opened fire, HPD did as well. Instantly, the bay became a cacophony of gunfire. Chips of concrete flew and pallets of cocaine burst as they were torn apart. Bullets _whanged _ and _pinged_ off every surface. Magnum felt one graze his bicep and another singe through the top of his hair, but he ignored them. The adrenaline that had been waning before was back and his heart was pounding dangerously in his chest. He had one goal. _Get out get out get out get out get out get out…_

In a moment of clarity, time seemed to slow as he locked eyes with Warren Caid just as the man took aim at Gordon. Without hesitating, Magnum reached into his waistband with his free hand, ignoring the excruciating pain in his dislocated shoulder, pulled out the gun he'd taken from Blondy, and fired. Before Caid could pull the trigger, he toppled back onto a pile of snow white powder, a neat round hole in the center of his forehead.

Thomas didn't stop. He kept sprinting forward, out of the hellscape that had been his most recent prison. He wasn't even seeing the fight anymore. It had all blurred out around him and his world had centered on only one thought. _Get out get out get out get out get out get out…_

"Thomas! Easy, buddy, easy!"

"Stop, man! You're good, you're safe."

There were voices, familiar voices, and hands on him. Looking around, he was surprised to see that not only were they outside, they were well behind the line of HPD cruisers. Rick, TC, and Higgins were all, somehow, in front of him, hands out out as if to stop him. That's when he realized that his legs were still moving, that he was still stumbling forward.

"Thomas, it's alright. You can stop now." He was pretty sure that was Juliet, but his grasp on reality was shaky at best. Even so, he remembered that he still had a mission. He could still feel Katsumoto's weight on his shoulders.

"Kats...Katsumoto…" He gasped. "Needs help…"

"I'm okay." Thomas heard someone mumble from off to one side.

"I got him man, we'll take care of him, but you need to stop moving, alright?" TC's warm, deep voice soothed his frayed nerves. "HPD's got it from here. Time to stand down, TM."

_Stand down...stand down...stand down…_

"Whoa, he's going!" Rick warned, and Thomas was vaguely aware of hands bracing him on his chest. _Funny, _he thought as the gun slipped through his slick fingers, _shouldn't that hurt?_

"I got Gordon." TC assured, and Thomas distantly felt the pressure lift from his shoulders.

"Shit, he's bleeding from, well, everywhere. Where's that ambulance?!" Rick shouted.

"Let's get him lying down." Higgins suggested. As they lowered him gently to the pavement, Thomas took in their concerned faces. Rick gave him a reassuring smile, which completely failed to hide the worry in his eyes.

"Hang in there, buddy. We'll get you fixed up real soon, okay?"

"Don' worry…'bout...me." Thomas mumbled as his eyes slid shut. "Doesn't even…h-hurt...anymore."

"Whoa, hey! Open your eyes!" Rick demanded from somewhere above him. "Damn it, he's going into shock. I need that ambulance over here now! Stay with me, Tommy."

_Not going anywhere_, Thomas thought as the world faded to black.

* * *

Rick Wright considered himself a connoisseur of hospital seating. After all, he'd been in enough of them to know. His bottom had graced waiting rooms and bedsides in dozens of countries all over the world. Hell, in the last year alone he'd grown familiar with the chairs of almost every hospital in Hawaii just as a result of knowing Thomas Magnum. As such, he felt confident in saying that, after nearly twenty-seven hours holding vigil in the ICU, this was one of the best chairs he'd ever encountered. Unlike most of the hideous plastic and metal monstrosities hospitals dared to call "chairs," this one was remarkably comfortable. Both the seat and the backrest were soft and well-cushioned and the armrests were at just the right height to minimize shoulder strain. It was almost comfortable enough to lull him to sleep. Almost.

Exhausted as he was, Rick knew he wouldn't be sleeping for a while. The images from the raid were still fresh in his mind and they haunted him every time he closed his eyes. Rick knew he'd never be able to forget the sight of his best friend, _his brother_, staggering out of that crumbling old factory amidst a hail of gunfire, drenched in blood and dragging Katsumoto with him.

With Five-0 now in their debt after they'd helped find and free Junior, Rick, TC, and Higgins hadn't had much trouble bullying HPD into including them in the investigation. After a rushed investigation finally turned up a lead, they'd quickly organized the raid on the abandoned textile factory where Warren Caid was running his smuggling operation. When the shooting had started, there'd been a moment of intense relief when Rick had seen Magnum and Katsumoto, both alive, tearing out of the loading bay. It was immediately followed by a moment of intense fear as he watched bullets pass mere inches from each of their heads. Thomas seemed oblivious to the bullets as he careened toward the line of cops firing directly at him. Rick remembered screaming at them not to shoot just in time to stop his friends from being ripped apart like Caid's men. As Thomas and Katsumoto had reached them, Rick expected them to stop, to collapse into a heap just behind the nearest cruiser. Instead, Thomas had continued on, charging past the line of confused cops in an awkward, stumbling run. Gordon, for his part, had clearly just along for the ride, casting a pleading look at them as they'd barreled by. In the end, it had taken the combined efforts of TC, Juliet, and himself to slow Thomas enough to get a good look at him, and what he'd seen had made him sick. Physically, Thomas was a mess. They wouldn't learn the full extent of what lay beneath the bruises and the blood until they reached the hospital, but it didn't take a medical degree to know that he was in a bad way. Thomas didn't seem to be registering any of that. Even as they'd bodily restrained him, he kept lurching forward on wobbly legs. As close as they'd been, Rick had felt the erratic pounding of Thomas' heart and seen the wild look in his eyes. By the time they'd managed to talk him down and get him to release his fierce grip on Katsumoto, Thomas' reserves had been spent and the man had collapsed against Rick. After that, shock had quickly set in and it had been a frantic rush just to keep him alive until the paramedics got there. Rick had essentially forced his way into the ambulance before anyone could argue. They had been less than a minute away from the hospital when Thomas had crashed. The last image Rick had of him before he'd disappeared behind a set of double doors was of him bleeding out onto a crisp, white gurney as a paramedic straddled him and pumped his chest.

Rick shook himself, trying to banish the memory. They'd been forced to sit through a seemingly endless twelve hour wait while Thomas had been in surgery. During that time, Katsumoto had also undergone surgery for his knee. They'd all stopped in briefly to check in as he'd woken up. Groggy as he was, Gordon's only concern had been for Magnum. However, they'd had no answers to give. For all they'd known, Thomas could've succumbed to his injuries. Even after they'd been told that he'd made it through and had been deemed critical, but stable, Rick could hardly believe that Thomas was actually alive. Looking down at the man in the bed, he had to admit that it was hard to tell. The blood had been cleaned away, but he still looked awful. Any skin that wasn't bruised or bandaged was a sickly grey color. _Like a corpse_, Rick thought darkly, then immediately chastised himself. Thomas was still here. He was still fighting and he wasn't about to give up on him.

* * *

"Somebody page Dr. Kahele now!"

"Get that lorazepam on board stat."

"Mr. Magnum? You need to calm down. The tube is helping you breathe."

Voices, loud and unfamiliar, assaulted him from all directions. They all seemed to be yelling different things, commanding him to do something, but he couldn't focus past the fact that he was _suffocating_. He wanted to claw at his throat, to remove whatever was blocking it, but strong hands held him back.

"Do we need to get him in restraints?"

"Move. Let me try." A deep voice broke through the din. This one he recognized. "Thomas?" Unlike the others, TC's voice was soft. No matter what was happening, that tone never failed to calm him. "Easy, brother. Just relax. Everything's going to be ooookkkkkkaaaaaayyyyyy." TC murmured, drawing the last word all the way out. Thomas could feel a large hand on his cheek and he couldn't help but lean into it, letting it ground him. He tried to speak, to ask what was going on, but his voice caught on whatever was still blocking his throat. He instantly reached for his mouth, but another hand pulled him back.

"No no no no no, leave that in, buddy." _Rick's here too?_ "You're on a ventilator. You need it to help you breathe. I know it sucks, man. I know it feels like you're choking, but I promise you're okay. Would I lie to you?" _Never._

"Shhhhhh…" A voice that sounded suspiciously like Juliet hushed from somewhere near his feet. "Rest now, Magnum. Just rest."

And he did.

* * *

The next time Thomas awoke, it took him nearly ten minutes of staring up at sterile, white ceiling tiles to process the fact that he was, in fact, conscious. It took another five to realize that he was in a hospital. _What the hell?_ The last thing he remembered…

His mind hit a wall as he struggled to extract information from his muddled brain. He felt like someone had backed over him with TC's van and, more distressing than that, he had no idea why. Something about...drugs? A warehouse maybe...and...Katsumoto. All at once, the memories slammed into him. Somewhere above, the tranquil beeping above his heart monitor took on a frantic cadence.

"Thomas? Hey, he's awake!" A moment later, Rick's face came into view as he leaned over him. "Easy, brother. You're okay." Rick soothed. "Just relax and-" He broke off when Thomas shot out a heavily bandaged hand and weakly grasped at his shirt. Thomas tried to speak, desperately needing answers, but all he could manage was a hoarse croak.

"Whoa, hey don't try to talk just yet." TC coached, moving in to join Rick. Thomas ignored him and continued his efforts to force words past his abused throat.

"He's okay, Magnum." A soft voice said from somewhere to his left. Glancing over, he could see Higgins smiling sadly down at him. Carefully, she reached over and eased Rick's shirt out his grasp. "Gordon is doing very well. A little banged up, but he'll be fine. He's mostly worried about you." Juliet explained, gently carding her fingers through his hair. "He's been an absolute nightmare for the nurses, demanding that they let him in to see you." Her words washed over him, driving away the fear he'd felt.

"That was a hell of a thing you did, TM." TC said. "Carrying him out of there like that? Now he'll have no choice but to admit that you two are friends."

"I think that ship already sailed when he tried to steal a security guard's badge last night and pass it off as his own so he could sneak up here check on you." Rick added with an amused grin.

* * *

Katsumoto couldn't suppress the apprehension as TC wheeled him toward Magnum's room. The last time he'd seen the man, he'd literally been dying. Now, he was told that he was awake and talking. For some reason, he couldn't picture the latter. He half expected to enter the room and find Magnum still on death's door. It had been four days since they'd escaped and Gordon had spent much of that time haunted by memories of Thomas bleeding out in that parking lot. He knew his mind wouldn't be able to accept that Magnum was alive until he saw him with his own eyes.

The others had warned him of what to expect. While Thomas was doing remarkably well, given the circumstances, recovery would be slow. For now, he was weak and exhausted and, according to Rick, would likely fall asleep on him at some point. As they entered his room, Katsumoto could see what they meant. Magnum was almost unrecognizable beneath all of the bruises, bandages, tubes, and wires. He was lying at a slight incline with his left arm in a sling and propped up on a pillow. His skin was disturbingly pale and his eyes were only half open. Nonetheless, a genuine smile lit up his face when he saw them come in.

"Hey Gordy." He rasped. TC parked the wheelchair next to the bed and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before leaving.

"Magnum." Katsumoto replied with a stiff nod. He'd been so consumed with getting here these last few days that he hadn;t actually considered what he'd say once he did. "You look...well." He finished lamely. Thomas snorted.

"I look like crap and we both know it." Gordon couldn't help but smile a bit at that. He may not look like it, but at least he sounded like Thomas Magnum.

"I wasn't going to say it. Unlike you, I was raised to have manners." He joked softly.

"Glad to see you're looking so good. Higgy said you'd make a full recovery."

"Because of you." Katsumoto replied seriously. "Look, Magnum, what you did...I can't ever-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there." Thomas interrupted. "Whatever speech you've got, save it. I'm gonna explain something to you, because you don;t seem to have picked up on it yet. We don't leave our people behind. _I_ don't leave _my _people behind. There was no way I was leaving that place without you. Like it or not, Gordy, you're Ohana now." Katsumoto sat for a moment in stunned silence. For Magnum, it was that simple. _How the hell had this infuriating P.I. come to mean that much to him?_

"I guess I am." Katsumoto said, clapping a hand on Magnum's uninjured arm. They both smiled, grinning widely at each other.

"Now, what's this I hear about you stealing a badge? Because after all the crap you gave me…"

* * *

**AN: Whew, sorry for the delay! That took much longer to write than I expected. I keep falling asleep while writing. I'm glad this tumor is gone, but they weren't kidding when they said brain surgery will knock you on your butt for a while. I'm just glad I can get back to writing again! As always, I truly do appreciate everyone's reviews and I welcome any suggestions on what you'd like to see next!**


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